The following are the 2012 All-State Conductors. They are sure to inspire and educate our All-State students and all who observe them in rehearsal and performance.

All-State Band Conductors

All-State Orchestra Conductors

All-State Choir Conductors

All-State Band Conductors

5A Symphonic Band Conductor:

 Tim Weiss, Oberlin Conservatory
Timothy Weiss is music director of the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble. He has gained critical acclaim for his performances and brave, adventurous programming throughout the U.S. and abroad. Weiss is committed to exploring the probing connections within and between pieces in his performances and searching for similarities of voice between different composers from seemingly different genres, periods, and backgrounds. Accordingly, his programs often present rare and revealing juxtapositions, offering a broad range of works from the minimalists to the maximalists, from the old to the new, and from the mainstream to the obscure.

In his 19 years as music director of the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, he has brought the group to a level of artistry and virtuosity in performance that rivals any other.
Since 2005, he has served as music director for the Newark Granville Symphony Orchestra and remained active as a guest conductor with the BBC Scottish Symphony in Glasgow, Scotland; the Britten Sinfonia in London; and the International Contemporary Ensemble.

As a committed educator, he is Professor of Conducting and Chair of the Division of Conducting and Ensembles at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He holds degrees from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, Northwestern University, and the University of Michigan.

5A Concert Band Conductor: 

 Scott Teeple, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Scott Teeple serves on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin/Madison as Associate Professor of Music. Under his leadership, ensembles continue to commission and premiere works for wind band and have performed with guest musicians of international acclaim. Teeple’s interest in music education and young composers has allowed him to implement programs to encourage the composition and premiere of works by young composers ¬performed by university ensembles.
Before his appointment at UW/Madison, Teeple served as Director of Bands at the UW/Stevens Point, Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Michigan, Director of Bands at St. Clair County Community College, and Director of Bands at Port Huron Northern HS in Michigan. During summers he has taught at Interlochen. Teeple has served on the executive board of the Wisconsin Music Educators Association, the Arts Alliance, and the Big Ten Band Directors Association. Teeple received his bachelor’s degree in music education and master’s degree in conducting from the University of Michigan.

4A Symphonic Band Conductor:

 Sharon Lavery, University of Southern California
Sharon Lavery currently serves as resident conductor of the USC Thornton Symphony, Chamber Orchestra, and Wind Ensemble at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. She has led the USC Thornton ensembles in concert on many occasions and, for seven years, has served as music director of the Thornton Concert Orchestra. In addition to these duties at USC Thornton, Lavery teaches conducting classes.

Outside of USC, Lavery enjoys a distinguished career both locally and internationally. In 2007, she won the ¬position of music director for the Downey Symphony Orchestra and also currently holds the post of cover conductor for the Pacific Symphony Orchestra of Orange County. Lavery received her bachelor of music education degree from Michigan State University and master of music in clarinet performance from the New England Conservatory of Music. She also earned a master of music in orchestral conducting from USC Thornton.

Jazz Ensemble Conductor:

 Wycliffe Gordon
Wycliffe Gordon enjoys an extraordinary career as a performer, conductor, composer, arranger, and educator, receiving high praise from audiences and critics alike. Gordon received the Jazz Journalists Association 2001 and 2002 Award for Trombonist of the Year, the Jazz Journalists Association 2000 Critics’ Choice Award for Best Trombone, and has been nominated for the Jazzpar Prize.

In addition to a thriving solo career, he tours regularly leading the Wycliffe Gordon Quartet, headlining at legendary jazz venues throughout the world. Gordon is a former veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and The Gully Low Jazz Band, and has been a featured guest artist on NPR’s Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center.

Gordon is rapidly becoming one of America’s most persuasive and committed music educators. He currently serves on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.

All-State Orchestra Conductors

Symphony Orchestra Conductor:

 Carl St. Clair, Pacific Symphony
In 2011–2012, Music Director Carl St. Clair begins his 22nd season with the Pacific Symphony. He has become widely recognized for his distinguished performances, his commitment to building outstanding educational programs, and his innovative approaches to programming. In 2008–2009, St. Clair celebrated the milestone 30th anniversary of the Pacific Symphony. He recently concluded his tenure as general music director and chief conductor of the German National Theater and Staatskapelle in Weimar, Germany. He also served as the general music director of the Komische Oper Berlin.

St. Clair’s commitment to the development and performance of new works by American composers is evident in the wealth of commissions and recordings he has led. He has directed the Pacific Symphony in numerous critically acclaimed performances. Under his guidance, the orchestra has commissioned works that became recordings. An advocate of music education for all ages, St. Clair has been essential to the creation of the symphony’s education programs.

Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor:

 Larry Livingston, Universtiy of Southern California
Larry Livingston is a distinguished conductor, educator, and highly respected motivational speaker. The founding music director of the Illinois Chamber Orchestra, Livingston has appeared with the Houston Symphony and in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series. He has conducted at the Festival de Musique in Evian, France, and has led the Stockholm Wind Orchestra, as well as the Leopoldinum Chamber, Chopin Academy, Wroclaw Philharmonic, and Academy Orchestras in Poland.
He served as music director of the Pan Pacific Festival orchestras in Sydney, participated as a performer and clinician at the International Jazz Festival in Rome, and conducted an electro-coustic ensemble in concerts in Tokyo under the auspices of Yamaha International.

Livingston has led the American Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra, the USC Thornton Chamber and Symphony Orchestras in Los Angeles, and the USC Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble in Berlin, and served on the jury for the renowned Besancon International Conducting Competition in Besancon, France. Holding bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, Livingston completed doctoral coursework in theoretical studies at the University of California/San Diego.

String Orchestra Conductor:

 Steven Amundson, St. Olaf College
Steven Amundson is in his 31st year on the faculty of St. Olaf College, where he serves as Professor of Music and Conductor of the St. Olaf Orchestra. The orchestra is recognized as one of the finest undergraduate symphonies in this country.  Amundson has held conducting posts at the University of Virginia, Tacoma Community College, and as Music Director of the Tacoma Youth Symphony before his arrival in Minnesota in 1981. He is the founding conductor of the Twin Cities-based Metropolitan Symphony. Amundson has conducted many all-state and honors orchestra festivals throughout the U.S. He has also been both a resident and guest conductor for the Interlochen National Arts Camp and has led the Lutheran Summer Arts Camp and the Lutheran Summer Camp Symphony.

Amundson is a 1977 graduate of Luther College and obtained a master of music degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University. He also did further studies at the University of Virginia, The Aspen Music School, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

All-State Choir Conductors

Mixed Choir Conductor:

 Joe Miller, Westminster Choir College
Joe Miller is conductor of two of America’s most renowned choral ensembles—the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. As Director of Choral Activities at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, N.J., he also oversees an extensive choral program that includes eight ensembles.  His recordings with the Westminster Choir have garnered critical praise. His 2011–2012 season with the choir includes a concert tour of the South, several national radio broadcasts, the world premiere of a new work by Paul Crabtree, a Carnegie Hall community sing concert, and their annual residency at the Spoleto Festival USA.

His season with the Westminster Symphonic Choir includes collaborations with the New York Philharmonic and Peter Schreier, the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle, and the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Miller is also founder and conductor of the Westminster Chamber Choir and leads the annual Westminster Choral Festival.

Women's Choir Conductor:

 Sharon Paul, University of Oregon
Sharon J. Paul is Professor of Music, Chair of Vocal and Choral Studies, and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Oregon where she teaches graduate courses in choral conducting, repertoire, and pedagogy, and conducts the Chamber Choir and University Singers.

Paul served as artistic director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) from 1992 to 2000. She appeared on screen with SFGC singers in the film What Dreams May Come and conducted them for the soundtrack of The Talented Mr. Ripley. In June 2000, SFGC was the first youth chorus to win the Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence. They were awarded an ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming in the same year. Paul appears frequently as adjudicator, clinician, and honor choir director throughout the country.

Men's Choir Conductor:

 Matt Oltman, Chanticleer
Matthew Oltman is Music Director Emeritus of Grammy Award-winning male vocal ensemble, Chanticleer. During his tenure, Oltman led the ensemble through three critically acclaimed seasons that included over 300 concerts in more than a dozen countries. He helped launch the Chanticleer Live in Concert recording label, which released some of Chanticleer’s best archival recordings to the public, and was the editor of the Chanticleer Choral Series. Oltman joined Chanticleer in 1999 as a tenor and in 2004 was named Assistant Music Director, a post he held until his appointment to Music Director in 2009.

He is currently the interim Director of Choral Activities at UC Berkeley where he conducts the University Choir and the University Chamber Singers. Oltman earned a bachelor’s degree in performance from Simpson College and a master’s in performance from the University of York in England. Before joining Chanticleer, Oltman sang with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale and was on the faculty of Simpson College where he taught harmony, French diction, choral techniques, and voice.