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)
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
