Directors

John Lynch is the new Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of Georgia where he will guide all aspects of the band and graduate wind conducting programs. Previous positions include Director of Bands at the University of Kansas, Associate Director of Bands at Northwestern University and Director of Instrumental Music at Emory University. Dr. Lynch has also held positions as Music Director of the Northshore Concert Band and the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony, and he is the founder of the KU/Kansas City Youth Wind Symphony and the Orange County Music Educators Wind Ensemble. He has ten years of public high school teaching experience in New York State where he was the national recipient of the Stanbury award for outstanding teaching and conducting and the William Revelli Award.

John Lynch has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia, and toured China with the KU Wind Ensemble as a guest of the Chinese government. His first professional recording "Redline Tango" was awarded a contract with the Naxos recording label. An advocate for new music, he has commissioned and recorded numerous new works for winds and has received grants to research contemporary wind band and chamber music in Scandinavia, Spain and Portugal. Dr. Lynch is an active clinician and a published composer through C. Alan Music. His performances have been broadcast throughout the nation on Chicago's WFMT, Peachstate Public Radio and on public radio in Kansas, Connecticut, Virginia, Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin and Ohio.

Awards include a Northwestern Searle Fellow for Teaching Excellence, membership in the Emory Scholars Committee, finalist for the Hungarian Radio Conducting Competition, participation in the Symphonic Conducing Workshop in Slovakia and a recent residency at the Lithuanian Music Academy. Performances include the MENC National Convention, Kansas Music Educators Association Convention, Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Le Festival des Anches d'Azur in France, and honor bands in Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore. He has been invited to conduct the all-state bands of Texas ('08), New York ('08), Oklahoma, Louisiana and Indiana. John Lynch holds degrees from Indiana University, the Eastman School of Music and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Professional affiliations include the College Band Directors National Association, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the Music Educators National Convention, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Phi Beta Mu. He was elected president of the Big XII Band Directors Association and vice president of the College Band Directors National Association Southwest Division.

Dr. Gregg Gausline is Interim Associate Director of Bands at the University of Georgia where he conducts the Wind Symphony, teaches courses in conducting, and assists with all aspects of the UGA band program. Prior positions include Director of Instrumental Studies at Indiana/Purdue University-Fort Wayne and Director of Bands at The University of Tennessee-Martin. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Miami and taught in the public schools of Florida.

Dr. Gausline is active as a guest conductor, clinician, and publisher. He is Resident Conductor for the New York Summer Music Festival, served as conductor of the Hartwick College Summer Music Institute, and conducted at the 2007 World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles International Convention in Killarney, Ireland and the 2005 WASBE International Convention in Singapore. He is published in the journals for WASBE, the College Band Directors National Association, and the National Band Association, as well as the Korean publication Flute and Flutist and "Teaching Music through Performance in Band" by GIA Publications.

Dr. Gausline was recently inducted into the Eta Chapter of Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity. Additional memberships include the Indiana Music Educators Association, Indiana Bandmasters Association, Music Educators National Conference, College Band Directors National Association, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, National Band Association, College Music Society, and Phi Kappa Phi.

Dr. Mike Robinson is the new Director of Athletic Bands and Assistant Director of Bands at The University of Georgia. He directs the Redcoat Marching Band and oversees all aspects of the Athletic Band Program in addition to conducting the Symphonic Band and teaching courses in music education. A native of Florida, Dr. Robinson received the B.M. and M.M. degrees in Music Education, and the D.M.A. degree in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Miami. Prior to his appointment at the University of Georgia, he served as the Associate Director of Bands at the University of South Florida and as Director of Bands at Fort Hays State University in Kansas. Dr. Robinson also taught eleven years in the public schools of Florida, most notably as Director of Bands at Seminole High School in Seminole, Florida. Throughout his career Dr. Robinson has received numerous honors and awards including Teacher of the Year in Pinellas County in 1995, and City of Seminole Educator of the Year in 1994. Most recently he received the USF College of Visual and Performing Arts Outstanding Service Award in 2003, the Orpheus Award from Phi Mu Alpha in 2006, and the Friend of the Arts award from Sigma Alpha Iota in 2007. His recent conducting and adjudication activities include appearances at the University of Arizona, Baylor University, Berklee College of Music, University of Kentucky, University of Miami, University of New Mexico, University of Tennessee-Martin, Western Kentucky University, and Ohio University among others. Dr. Robinson also has extensive experience in the marching arts and most recently served as a music/show consultant for the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps a perennial top 12 DCI finalist. In addition, Robinson has also served in a variety of capacities on the music staffs of top DCI corps such as the Cadets of Bergen County, Carolina Crown, Iowa Colts, and Suncoast Sound.

Dr. Robinson holds memberships in the FMEA, MENC, FBA, ASBDA, NBA, IHS, Kappa Kappa Psi, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Thomas Keck is Assistant Director of Bands and Interim Director of the Redcoat Band at the University of Georgia. In this capacity, he assists with all aspects of the program, including conducting responsibilities with all UGA Bands, administration, design, and instruction for the Redcoat Marching Band, and primary direction of all other athletic bands. Additionally, Keck teaches courses in conducting and music education. He is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from Arizona State University and has earned music education degrees from the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa.

Previously, Keck served as Director of Athletic Bands at the University of New Hampshire where he oversaw all aspects of the Wildcat Marching Band and Pep Bands, and taught courses in conducting, music education, and percussion. In 2001, the UNH Marching Band was chosen to perform for Prince Rainier in Monaco as part of a nine-day tour through Italy and France. Additionally, Keck has presented clinics and lecture-recitals at all-state music conventions and the Eastern Division CBDNA Conference. He guest conducted district and regional bands, all-state chamber ensembles, and the 2003 MENC Eastern Division Conference. Keck served as the New Hampshire State Chairperson for CBDNA, NBA, and was Collegiate Coordinator for the NHMEA. In addition to these affiliations, he is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi. As a percussionist, Keck has performed with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps, I-PAN Steel Groove, and numerous symphonic and improvisatory ensembles.

Andrew Trachsel is Assistant Director of Bands and Franklin Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the University of Georgia where he serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. In addition to assisting with all aspects of the band program, he conducts a Concert Band and teaches courses in conducting and music education. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting from the University of North Texas, where he was a student of Eugene Migliaro Corporon. Additional degrees include a Master of Music in Wind Conducting from the University of North Texas and a Bachelor of Music Education from Drake University.

Prior to his appointment at the University of Georgia, Dr. Trachsel served as a Doctoral Conducting Associate and Graduate Staff Coordinator at the University of North Texas where he was named an Outstanding Teaching Fellow, one of only four to receive the honor university-wide for the 2005-2006 academic year. He was appointed Assistant Conductor for the inaugural season of the Lone Star Wind Orchestra, a professional wind band based in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Additionally, he taught applied saxophone at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth and also taught in public high schools for four years in Iowa.

Dr. Trachsel has participated as a performer and production associate for the critically-acclaimed Klavier Wind Project, GIA Publications Composer's Collection, GIA Teaching Music Through Performance in Band Resource Recordings, NAXOS Wind Band Classics, and the newly-released GIA WindWorks. He is published in three volumes of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band as the author of eight teacher's resource guides, and his critical edition of Gordon Jacob's William Byrd Suite was recorded by the North Texas Wind Symphony and released on the album Altered States in 2007. Dr. Trachsel holds memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, Iowa Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Music Educators National Conference, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity of America.