Brent Shires – USA

Dr. Shires is an invited featured artist around the world, with a love for travel and sharing good brass pedagogy. he considers himself incredibly fortunate to have twice been an International Visiting Professor at the University of Taipei, Taiwan; resident artist at East China Normal University in Shanghai and at Tianjin Conservatory; regular performances as Guest Principal Horn with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia; and the featured hornist at the 2nd International Albanian Brass Festival in Tirana, Albania. He has performed and taught throughout Europe and the U.S.A., both as a soloist and with Pinnacle Brass, the resident quintet of the University of Central Arkansas.  

Brent’s home is Conway, Arkansas, where he serves as Associate Professor of Horn and current Faculty Senate President at the University of Central Arkansas. He is the adjunct horn instructor at Hendrix College and Central Baptist College, and is artist faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and Destination Band Camp in the summers. As an active performer, he holds the positions of Third Horn in the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Acting Principal Horn of the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Horn in the Conway Symphony Orchestra. Brent is also known for his jazz and music theater work, and is on-call in Little Rock performing with national touring shows such as Wicked and Phantom of the Opera.

Brent earned his B.M. in Music Education from the Crane School of Music at S.U.N.Y. Potsdam, and the M.M. in Horn Performance and Pedagogy from Northern Illinois University. In completing the D.M.A. in Horn from the University of Illinois, Brent wrote the first treatise on original solo works for horn and wind band. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the International Horn Competition of America, and is a regular adjudicator for several competitions. Brent also serves the International Horn Society as Regional Workshop Coordinator. He is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music with Music Teachers National Association, and performs on a Ricco Kühn W293.

    Gregory Jones – USA

Dr. Gregory Jones serves as Associate Dean for Engagement in the College of Music at Florida State University. At FSU Dr. Jones directs programs in entrepreneurship, community engagement, and all marketing and communications efforts. He has decades of experience teaching, performing and administrating music that include developing innovative curricula and programs with global reach. Previous appointments include Director of the Purdue University Fort Wayne School of Music and Professor of Music at Truman State University in Missouri. He holds music degrees from Florida State University, the University of North Texas, and the Doctorate in Music Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music. His wide variety of performance experiences include the Kansas City Symphony, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Wynton Marsalis Al Jarreau, Audra McDonald, Bill Conti, Joshua Bell, the Dallas Cowboys Band, and many others. He has recorded for National Public Radio and served as an Artist-in-Residence in Greece as a recipient of a Senior Fulbright Grant from the United States Information Agency and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars and has been a member of the Fulbright Selection Panel in Washington, D.C. Dr. Jones often visits Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Albania where he has taught and performed as part of an ongoing outreach program supported by the U.S. Embassy and the Fulbright Foundation. He also frequently tours China including performing the opening concert of the initial China Trumpet Guild Conference and trumpet festivals in Tianjin, Shijiazhuang Shenzhen, Lanzhou, Yantai, and Beijing. He has appeared as a featured clinician at The Midwest Band Directors Clinic in Chicago and in festivals and music schools across the US. His book, Developing Expression in Brass Performance and Teaching is available from Routledge/Taylor and Francis, and he can also be heard on Alternate Voices: Chamber Music for Trumpet. He lives in Tallahassee with his wife, Margo, an accomplished flutist.

   Terrie Shires – USA

Terrie Shires is a full-time Lecturer of Piano, teaching class piano and serving as a collaborative artist at the University of Central Arkansas. As the UCA Horn Studio accompanist, she works with students to present recitals, as well as visiting artists such as Randy Gardner, Jeff Nelsen, Roger Kaza, Richard Todd, Eli Epstein, Thomas Bacon, and Richard King. Terrie has served as an official accompanist at various times for the Mid-South Horn Workshop, Southeast Horn Workshop and the International Horn Competition of America. Mrs. Shires has served as both choir accompanist and piano instructor at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. She has played keyboard for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre and as a substitute keyboardist with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Hanover College, Indiana, and the Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at Northern Illinois University. Her primary teachers were C. Kimm Hollis and William Koehler. Terrie has performed in Austria, France, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Canada, Taiwan, and 22 states. She has also served on the faculty of Millikin University’s Preparatory Department; adjunct instructor at Hendrix College; and Visiting Instructor of Piano at Silver Lake College in Wisconsin. She and Brent perform regularly together in recitals and guest performances as a duo. They enjoy spending quality time with their 18-month old granddaughter.

   Pantelis Feizos – GREECE

PANTELIS FEIZOS (GREECE) Pantelis was born in Permet, Albania l, in November of 1962. From 1977 to 1988, he studied horn at the Music School and the Institute of Arts of Tirana, where he graduated with Honours, under Christofor Qorri. He held the position of 3rd Horn at the Opera House of Tirana from 1988 to 1991. In 1991, he moved to Greece. From 1993 to 1997, he served as 1st Horn in the Orchestra of Contemporary Music of the Radio Symphony of Greece, ERT. Since 1997, he has held a stable position of 3rd Horn in the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki. He has collaborated with most of the major orchestras in Greece and Cyprus, including the Manos Hadjidakis Orchestra, the Opera of Athens, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, and many others. As a soloist, he has performed with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki and has given numerous chamber music concerts around Greece with wind duos, quintett, octett and other formations, including his wind quintet “ThessQuintett”. Throughout his career, he has performed in many of the world’s most famous concerthalls, such as Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Since 2008, he has also been teaching horn and orchestral excerpts for wind instruments as an honorary professor at the State University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki.

   Felipe Julián Arroyo Muelas – SPAIN

Felipe Julián Arroyo Muelas (Spain) Born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, he studied tuba at the Professional Conservatories of Mallorca and the Conservatoire Superior de les Illes Balears. During the studies professionals are chosen on two occasions to complete the concert tour center for the island of Mallorca. He received classes from Steven Mead, Josep Burguera, David Llàcer, Tobías Isern or Daniel Perpinyà among others. Ganador del soloist competition and chamber competition of the Conservatori Superior de les Illes Baleares. He is a founding member of the Balearic Metal Friends Association Greu, with whom he actively promoted the diffusion of the instrument on the Isles Balearic Islands. It is part of the Oceans Tuba Quartet, Menorca Brass Ensemble and the metal quintet RiuDolç Brass, with whom he created concerts and masterclasses for Europe and United States. He collaborated with the Orquesta de les Illes Balears on multiple occasions, in the internal band of the Teatro Principal de Palma, with the Banda Municipal de Palma and participated with it in international bands festival get first prizes. He plays regularly as a soloist with groups from all over from Spain to United States. He is currently a teacher at conservatories in Ibiza and Mallorca.

   Pedro Castano – SPAIN

PEDRO CASTAÑO (SPAIN) Professor of Tuba at the Manuel Castillo Superior Conservatory of Music in Seville Studied tuba at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama of London with Patrick Harrild, London Symphony Orchestra. During this time membership of: Jove Orquestra Sinfònica de Catalunya (JONC), Joven Orquesta Nacional de España (JONDE), European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) and Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO). 2001-2007 member of Spanish Brass Luur-Metalls. Recordings with Spanish Brass: “Delicatessen”, “Absolute”, “Gaudi´um”, “Caminos de España (Paths of Spain)” and “Metal.lics”. Soloist with Córdoba Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Spain and the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra, including performances around the globe with musicians such as Ole E. Antonsen and Christian Lindberg. Other orchestral experience includes concerts with: Orquesta de la Comunidad Valenciana (Palau de les Arts), Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Orquesta de Euskadi, Orquesta de Bilbao, Orquesta de Tenerife, Orquesta de Cadaqués, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid (Teatro Real), Orquesta Ciutat de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Milan Symphoy Orchestra, Die Bayerisches Staatsoper (Munich Opera House), Mariinsky Theater Orchestra of San Petersburg, Ensemble Les Dissonaces (Paris). Under the direction of: Josep Pons, Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Neville Marriner, Pierre Boulez, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach and Valery Gergiev among others. Masterclasses in many Spanish conservatoires as well as the Conservatorio de Puerto Rico, Winter Festival of Brasilia (Brazil), Oaxaca (Mexico), Conservatoire de Lyon (France), Viana do Castelo (Portugal), Royal Northerm College of Music, Manchester (UK), Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow, Dartington Summer School (UK), Maastrich Conservatory (Netherlands). Other coaching roles included the youth orchestras of: Catalonia (JONC), Comunitat Valenciana (JORVAL), Andalucia (OJA), Murcia (JORM), Spain (JONDE), Venezuela. Various students have gone on to play with orchestras such as: Comunidad de Madrid Symphony Orchestra, Madrid Symphony Orchestra, Catalonia Symphony Youth Orchestra, Cantabria Youth Orchestra, Euskadi Youth Orchestra, Spanish National Youth Orchestra, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. Jury member of the Jeju International Tuba Competition (Korea) and at the “Roger Bobo awards for excellence in recording” (USA).

    Mark Reynolds – SCOTLAND

Mark Reynolds (Scotland) Mark Reynolds started playing the Tuba at the age of 14. He graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1995 and it was during this period that he was chosen to play with the Jeunesses Musicales World Youth Orchestra which is where he became a member of the World Brass Ensemble. He then moved to Munich where he started his postgraduate studies at the Richard Strauss Konservatorium. Whilst there he performed with, amongst others, the Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian State Radio Orchestra, Bavarian State Opera and the Munich Symphony Orchestra as well as the German Chamber Orchestra Bremen, Ensemble Modern and the NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg culminating in 1999 when he was the first tuba player to be offered a position in the prestigious Munich Philharmonic Orchestra Academy. In 2001, he was appointed principal Tuba of the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders, Antwerp and became a founder member of the Ottone Brass Quintet. He has frequently performed as a soloist including performances of the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra as well as recording the world premiere of Maricio Kagel’s ‘Black Madrigal’ with the Berlin Radio Chorus. He was also the soloist in the first performance and recording of ‘Don Giovanni’s Journey into Hell’ written for him and the World Brass Ensemble by Jan Koetsier. February 2009 saw him move back to his beloved Highlands of Scotland with his family where he teaches and conducts in Fort William. He is the conductor of the Lochaber High School Senior Band and Big Band as well as the Highland Youth Wind Band. In 2017 the Highland Youth Wind Band recorded their first ever CD at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Centre in Glasgow with Mark at the helm. Esteemed Wind Band composer Brian Balmages said of the recording, ‘’You have created a wonderful sound with the group, full of music and excitement’’. In 2017 he was the recipient of the International Traveling Scholarship to The Midwest Band and Orchestra clinic in Chicago awarded by the Scottish Concert Band Festival for the three consecutive Gold Plus Award winning performances by the LHS Senior Wind Band at the National Finals of the Festival in Perth Concert Hall. 2023 saw Mark return to his Alma Mater, now known as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in the role of Lecturer in Brass. This position includes Mark becoming the principal conductor of the RCS Wind Orchestra, coaching a wide variety of ensembles and individual teaching. He is also a member of the inaugural International Tuba and Euphonium Association Professional Educators Committee and continues to perform regularly with orchestras and ensembles both in Scotland and in Europe.

   Ilir Kodhima – ALBANIA

He took his first lessons in horn with the Prof. Avni Dajko at the Artistic High School of Music “Jordan Misja” in Tirana and then with Prof. Andrea Canaj at the University of Arts in Tirana where he finished studies with maximum assessments. During studies, he took lessons with other well-known pedagogues such as: Mike Svoboda – Austria, Markus Burghaier – Germany, Uwe Diekersen – Germany, Vangelis Scuras – Greece, Guido Corti – Italy, Robin O’Brain – U.K, etc. He is quite active as an artist interpreter lik soloist,  part of serveral ensembles and orchestras, holding lessons for the young generation, and also as playing and collaborating with Albanian and foreing artists in: Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Greece etc. His goal as an artist is to enrich the Albanian and international music repertoire by inspiring composers.Composersers who dedicated pieces for him are Enis Mullaj – “Under dhe Monlight”, Alan Holley – “The Gliebe Glows”, Alan Holley – Red Harmony, Alan Holley – “Jungle Song”, Andrian Petrout – Vue de Laigle etc.  Also his aim is to create the necessary infrastructure for the young artists and helping them on creating new bridges of collaboration with foregin artists and unffy the method of studying and interpretation.Ilir Kodhima is also a organizer of the “International Albanian Brass Festival” www.iabf.al since 2016, bringing in Albania many famous artsits from all over the world like: Alan Holley – Australia, Paul Goodchild – Austria , Arkady Shilkloper – Russia. Dr.Brent Shires – USA, Dr.Greg Jones – USA, Gergely Sugar – Austria, Luca Benucci – Italy, Marco Pierobon – Italy, Kostas Siskos – Greece etc.  He is a member of many ensembles like: Albanian Brass Quintet, Albanian National Brass, “Cesk Zadeja” Wood Wind Quitet etc. His repertorë in orchestra is so rich since he played thousnds of concert, performing Opera, Symhonies, Requem, Concerts etc. From 2008-2009 he was part of the National Radio Television Orchestra as third horn, from 2009 – 2021 as the Principal horn at the National Opera and Ballet in Tirana. From 2021 he is a horn pedagogue at the University of Arts in Tirana (Albania) and in Prishtina (Kosovo). He is coo-founder of the online artistic portal www.artkulture.al.

   Milan Roksandic – SERBIA

Milan Roksandic (Serbia) Milan Roksandić è nato a Belgrado. Si è diplomato in corno nella classe del professor Stjepan Rabuzin, presso la Scuola Superiore di Musica “Stevan Mokranjac” a Belgrado(Serbia). Si e perfezionato presso il Conservatorio di musica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano nella classe del maestro Michele Berrino, ex primo cornista del Teatro alla Scala di Milano. Fin da giovane ha mostrato il talento vincendo concorso per i giovani cornisti fino ai 16 anni nella ex Jugoslavija. In seguito e stato chiamato a prendere parte degli concerti nella fila dei corni della filarmonica di Belgrado. Con il quintetto di fiati di Milano ha vinto il 1° premio al Concorso Internazionale di Musica da Camera di Pavia (Italia), mentre con il trio composto da violino, pianoforte e corno ha vinto il 2° premio al Concorso Internazionale di Musica da Camera di Verbania (Italia). Dal 2004 collabora con l’ensemble da camera “Žebeljan”, formato dall’accademica e compositrice Isidora Žebeljan, con la quale ha eseguito e registrato opere di compositori nazionali e stranieri, nonché opere dell’omonima compositrice. Dal 2009. fa parte dello studio registrazione per film “Fames Music Recording Studio” di Skopje. Dal 2011 al 2012 ha lavorato come professore di corno presso la scuola di musica “Josif Marinkovic”. Dal 2012 collabora con la Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra della Corea del Sud. interpretazione da corno principale nell’ Alpensinfonie di Richard Strauss al Seoul Arts Center (Corea del Sud) porta la continua collaborazione con la orchestra Coreana fino al 2017. Inoltre dal 2013. regolamente collabora con la Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra. Dal 2017 è docente di corno presso l’universita d’arte “Filum” a Kragujevac (Serbia). Si è esibito in veste di corno principale con numerose orchestre trale quali Filarmonica di Belgrado, orchestra della radio televisione di Belgrado. Inoltre le participazioni nei festival come il Bemus di Belgrado, il Biennale di Zagabria, l’Estate di Fiume(Croatia), il Bregenzer Festival di Bregenz, poi alla Neue Oper Wien di Vienna, nonché ai festival di Friedrichshafen e Amsterdam. Nello stesso anno si distinguono in una tournée europea con l’omonima orchestra, che tocca prima la Seoul Arts Center Hall di Seul, poi la Golden Hall del Musikverein di Vienna, la Smetana Hall di Praga, l’Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Budapest e la Hercules Hall di Monaco di Baviera. Ha registrato per le case discografiche Deutsche Grammophon, CD Bongiovanni e Mascom records. Ha avuto l’onore di collaborare con direttori quali R. Muti, Z. Mehta, K. Petrenko, Y. Sado, C. Mandael, R. Chailly, A. Nanut, H. Schellenberger.