NC Music Educator Conference Edition 2022

and serves as the resident conductor for the orchestra. He also
teaches courses in conducting and music entrepreneurship and
leads the graduate conducting program at UNCSA. He is a former
member of several orchestras and was a tuba instrumentalist with
the U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C.
Hoke County High School Wind Ensemble
The Hoke County Wind Ensemble was spearheaded by director
of band DeVon Pickett. The ensemble is comprised of the top
students in the band program and averages around 40 participants.
It started out with after school rehearsal once a week and grew
to an honors class after the curriculum was written by Pickett
and approved by the district. Over the last three years, the wind
ensemble has strived to reach new heights in the band program,
traveling to almost every major university within North Carolina,
and performing as the opening act as well as traveling throughout
the east coast gaining performance experiences.
DeVon Pickett
DeVon Pickett, a 2011 Fayetteville State
University graduate, officially fell in love with
music during the beginning of his collegiate
years. Although general music was not his
first declared major, it would become the
focus of his career. After changing his major
from biology to music, he knew that he made
the right choice.
Pickett began as a middle school band
director in 2012 in Hoke County at East Hoke Middle School. In
2013, he was transferred to the new Sandy Grove Middle School,
where he built a rich program from the ground up within two
years. His students exhibited high measurements of achievement
and helped coin what is now the annual middle school battle of
the bands. In 2015, he was promoted from the SGMS director
of bands/Mighty Marching Bucks percussion instructor to the
director of bands at Hoke County High School. Under Mr. Pickett’s
direction, The Hoke County High School Band program has won
several accolades to soar the program to new heights.
East Carolina University Symphonic Wind
Ensemble
The East Carolina University Symphonic Wind Ensemble is
the premiere wind band at ECU. It is comprised of the strongest
undergraduate and graduate wind, brass and percussion
performers in the ECU School of Music. This ensemble has
performed throughout the state and region, including at the
Southern Division Conference of the College Band Directors
National Association and the NCMEA Conference.
William Staub
William Staub has been a member of
the faculty at East Carolina University since
2012. He serves as the director of bands; his
duties include oversight of the ECU Band
program, directing the ECU Symphonic
Wind Ensemble, teaching sections of
undergraduate and graduate conducting,
and teaching music education classes. He
also currently serves as conductor for both the
gold band at the ECU Summer Band Camp and the Symphonic
Band at the New England Music Camp in Sidney, Maine.
Hanes Magnet School
Hanes Magnet Middle School is one of WS/FCS’s magnet
schools that specializes in both STEM and gifted education. Their
diverse student body comes from the far stretches of Forsyth
County as well as our neighborhood in downtown Winston-
Salem. The Hanes Band program is divided into three grade level
ensembles and an after school jazz ensemble, The Jazzin’ Dragons.
About 300 students are in the band at Hanes on a yearly basis.
Students have band every other day in 6 th and 7 th grade for 45
minutes, and have band everyday in 8 th grade for 45 minutes. The
8 th Grade Band has earned superior ratings at the NW District
MPA in both grade III and IV since 2014, while under the
direction of Mrs. Choat. Students in the Hanes Band consistently
earn placements in district and state level honors concert and jazz
ensembles on a yearly basis. This will be the second appearance of
the Hanes Band at the NCMEA Conference.
Mary Kathryn Bowman Choat
Mary Kathryn Bowman Choat is
in her eleventh year as the director of
bands at Hanes Magnet Middle School
in Winston-Salem. She received her BM
Education degree from Appalachian State
University and her MM degree in trombone
performance from the University of
Texas. She has received numerous awards
throughout her years at Hanes including the
American School Band Directors Association
(ASBDA) Encore Award in 2016 and “Band Director of the Year”
for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in 2017. She frequently
serves as a guest clinician for honors ensembles throughout the
state. Additionally, she performs regularly throughout N.C. and is
a member of the Piedmont Wind Symphony and Camel City Jazz
Orchestra.
Millbrook Wind Ensemble
The Millbrook Wind Ensemble is the premier instrumental
performance ensemble at Millbrook High School in Raleigh.
Consisting of 50 students, this audition-only ensemble meets daily
on a block schedule for the duration of the school year. For the past
ten years, the Wind Ensemble has earned only superior ratings at
the Central and East Central District MPA, all while performing
high quality, challenging wind band literature. In addition to
performing this fall at the NCMEA Professional Development
Conference, the Millbrook Wind Ensemble will be a featured
performer at the 2023 President’s Cup in Washington, D.C.
Avery Payne
Avery Payne is entering his seventh
year of teaching and his fifth year as the
director of bands at Millbrook High School
in Raleigh, where he guides all aspects of
the band program. A 2016 graduate of the
University of South Carolina, he served as
the director of bands and orchestra at North
Forsyth High School for two years prior to
leading the Millbrook Band Program. He is a
member of NAfME, NCMEA, the North Carolina Bandmasters
Association, and of Kappa Kappa Psi. He has served as a district
representative on the NCBA marching band committee since 2019
and is chair elect of the Central NC Region Jazz Section.
United States Air Force Heritage of America Band
For nearly 80 years, the USAF Heritage of America Concert
Band has entertained, educated and inspired millions. The band
has performed at thousands of high-profile community outreach
and military events, produced over 55 highly-acclaimed recordings
and collaborated with many world-renowned artists. The band is
often featured on television, radio and social media, conveying the
Air Force core values of integrity, service and excellence.
The Concert Band is comprised of 45 professional Airmen
who captivate audiences by telling the Air Force story, and also
performing numerous renditions of great symphonic classics,
marches, Broadway hits, jazz standards, movie music and patriotic
favorites. In addition to performing standard repertoire, the
Band is also a champion of new music, embodying the spirit of
innovation that is inherent in today’s Air Force.
Through the universal language of music, they honor all
who have nobly served in the United States Armed Forces past
and present – both at home and around the world. They inspire
Americans by displaying the highest level of professionalism,
military precision, artistry and excellence. They recruit our nation’s
best and brightest, spotlighting the vast opportunities available in
the Armed Forces. Finally, they connect with audiences by building
lasting community partnerships, instilling pride and patriotism in
audiences, and demonstrating American values to the world.
Captain Christina Muncey
Captain Christina Muncey is a flight
commander for the United States Air
Force Band, Joint Base Anacostia Bolling,
Washington, D.C. She serves as the Officerin-Charge
of the Concert Band, the Airmen
of Note, Productions, and Resources and
Supply. She is responsible to the Band
Commander for oversight of equipping and
training a 184-member unit to accomplish
more than 1,600 missions annually.
Muncey commissioned from Officer Training School at
Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., in April 2015. Prior
to joining the Air Force, she served as director of instrumental
music at Wheat Ridge High School in Colorado.
She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in wind conducting from
the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and two
degrees from Colorado State University: a Master of Music with a
concentration in orchestral conducting, and a Bachelor of Music in
music education.
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