New LHB Director Announcement

Revised: May 7, 2015

 

I am pleased to announce today that following a national search, Dr. Scott Hanna will become the 12th Director of the Longhorn Band, effective this summer. Dr. Hanna will also serve as Associate Director Bands, and comes to the LHB Director position after serving as the Associate Director of the band for the past sixteen years, during which time his influence on the band has been felt in countless positive ways. Prior to joining the Butler School of Music faculty, Dr. Hanna completed his MM in Music and Human Learning and DMA in Wind Conducting at UT following a career teaching in the public schools of New Braunfels and Austin, Texas.  He received his undergraduate degrees in Music Education and Instrumental Music Performance from Louisiana State University, where he performed for five years in Wind Ensemble (three of them as principal euphonium), and was for three years as the drum major of the Tiger Marching Band. His primary teachers were Frank Wickes (conducting), Larry Campbell (euphonium), and James Byo (music education). Dr. Hanna is a graduate of the Fairfax County, Virginia public schools, where he attended Edgar Allen Poe Intermediate School and Annandale High School.  He had the good fortune of learning from two influential music educators, Noreen Linneman (Poe Intermediate) and Donald Gilmore (Annandale High), and was twice a member of the Virginia All-State Band.  Dr. Hanna studied for six years with Dr. Brian Bowman, then principal euphonium of the United State Air Force Band, and now Professor of Euphonium at the University of North Texas.

Today we are also pleased to welcome Dr. Ryan Kelly as the new Associate Director of the Longhorn Band and Assistant Director of Bands. Dr. Kelly returns to Austin and UT from the University of Central Florida, where he has served as Director of Athletic Bands and Director of the Marching Band. Dr. Kelly served as a teaching assistant with the UT Bands while earning his DMA in Wind Conducting. With the Longhorn Band, Dr. Kelly wrote drill, arranged music and served as a rehearsal assistant and the news of his appointment will undoubtedly be enthusiastically received by the current Longhorn Band students who remember him with great fondness. Prior to his DMA work at Texas, Dr. Kelly received two degrees in Music Education from The Florida State University, where he served as the drum major of the Marching Chiefs during his undergraduate days. He then taught for several years in the public schools of Florida, most notably at Lincoln High School in Tallahassee. Coincidentally, Dr. Kelly is also a product of those same Fairfax County, Virginia public schools where Dr. Hanna began his training.

With these remarkable gentlemen at the helm, there is no doubt that continued bright days are ahead for this great band. We will be naming an additional faculty member to the position of Assistant Director of the Longhorn Band sometime during the month of May, and we should have our full team in place by July 1, though of course their work begins today! 

This morning, as I am writing this, I am thinking of all of you, the alumni who have contributed your time, talents, suggestions, and financial resources over the years to make this band what it continues to be - one of the few institutions on our (or any) campus that is a truly enduring tradition. I am also thinking first and foremost of the current and future students in the band, those people who are coming into this band for a variety of reasons, but who are bound by shared desire - to be a part of something special, to be a part of a great tradition, and to simply to be in a great band, together.

I am also thinking of our past directors.  Though Dr. E.P. Schoch, Walter Hunnicutt, Burnett “Blondie" Pharr, and Col. George Hurt should never be forgotten, our modern lineage of Moton Crockett, Vincent R. DiNino, Tom Rhodes, Glenn Richter, Paula Crider, Kevin Sedatole and Robert Carnochan have all made remarkable contributions to our history. I can’t help but think that they would be pleased today.

I enthusiastically welcome Dr. Hanna into his new role, and Dr. Kelly back to the Butler School of Music.  And, I ask you for your support of their efforts as they build on our storied past, and create the atmosphere, experience, and memories for our students that will continue to allow all of us to hold our heads a bit higher and stand a bit taller than the rest. Each of you know well what I mean: those memories that continue to sustain our commitment to this special organization that all of us love so much.  The Eyes of Texas are upon all of us as we embark on this exciting new chapter of Longhorn Band history!

Hook ‘em!  JFJ

Jerry Junkin, Director of Bands

Head, Division of Conducting and Ensembles

Vincent R. and Jane D. DiNino Chair for the Director of Bands

University Distinguished Teaching Professor

Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music

The University of Texas at Austin

2406 Robert Dedman Dr. Stop E3102

Austin, TX  78712-1556

(512) 471-0386 

(512) 475-7764 (fax)

http://winds.music.utexas.edu/

Artistic Director and Conductor, Dallas Wind Symphony (www.dws.org)

Music Director and Conductor, Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia (www.hkwp.org)

Principal Guest Conductor, Sensoku Gakuen College of Music Wind Ensemble