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GUEST ARTISTS
DR. MEGAN BOUTIN
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Shires Performing Artist
Dr. Megan Boutin is the Assistant Professor of Music in Trombone at Texas A&M University-Commerce. Dr. Boutin has performed, presented, and adjudicated at conferences and festivals including the International Trombone Festival, American Trombone Workshop, Midwest Clinic, International Women’s Brass Conference, Big 12 Trombone Conference, and the Music by Women Festival. She is the winner of the 2019 International Women's Brass Conference Tenor Trombone Category II solo division, and has been a guest soloist at the Midwest Clinic. Dr. Boutin has held the position of principal trombone with the Temple Symphony Orchestra, Austin Civic Orchestra, and the Tri-Cities Opera Company Orchestra (Binghamton, NY). An active freelancer, she has performed with orchestras including Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Paducah Symphony Orchestra, Bangor Symphony Orchestra, as well as Austin Lyric Opera, Austin Symphony Brass Quintet, Stiletto Brass Quintet, Mirari Brass Quintet, and the Athena Brass Band.
As an educator she has been a featured guest artist for conferences as well as performed and presented masterclasses at universities throughout the United States. She served as a coach to the International Trombone Association’s Quartet Competition 2021 winners, and was an assistant conductor for the TAMUK Trombone Choir’s performance at the 2021 Midwest Clinic. An advocate for diversity and inclusion in music, Dr. Boutin is a member of the International Women’s Brass Conference and serves as a mentor with the IWBC mentorship program.
A native of Brunswick, Maine, Dr. Boutin holds degrees in Music Education from Ithaca College (B.M., Music Education), the Eastman School of Music (M.M.) and the University of Texas at Austin (D.M.A.). Principal teachers include Dr. Harold Reynolds, Mark Kellogg, Dr. John Marcellus, and Dr. Nathaniel Brickens. Dr. Boutin has held positions as the Assistant Professor of Music at Murray State University, and Adjunct Professor of Trombone at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
BENTE ILLEVOLD
International Soloist and Educator
Shires Performing Artist
Bente Illevold comes from Rendalen in Østerdalen and plays the euphonium. Over the past ten years, she has distinguished herself as an innovative performer and garnered recognition for her performances of new works for the instrument, both nationally and internationally. Illevold has commissioned twenty pieces for the euphonium, and more are to come!
Bente is an international S.E. Shires Company Euphonium artist and was the company's first choice as their first female and European euphonium artist. Her debut album "Klangen fra de dype skoger" was released in 2020, and she was nominated for "Instrumentalist des Jahres" in OPUS KLASSIK, Germany's largest classical music magazine. Her second album "Alene" was released in autumn 2021, and was nominated for Album of the Year by 4BarsRest.
In 2021, Illevold was awarded the prestigious Forsberg and Aulies grant. In 2023, she was awarded Drammen municipality's artist grant, and the title municipal artist of the year.
As a teacher Illevold teaches both beginners and coaches professionals on weekly bases, and loves to travel the world to meet performers of all ages and levels.
KEITH PACKMAN
Texas Woman's University
Collin College
Keith Packman wears many hats thanks to the tuba: performing with symphony orchestras, teaching public school masterclasses, giving solo recitals, recording over a dozen albums, and numerous other types of musical work . He is grateful to have fulfilled one of his earliest career dreams of being an in-demand musician and educator in north Texas. Now, Keith is using these experiences to bring high levels of artistry to his nationwide performances and teaching positions.
As a performer, Keith has had an active freelance career in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for over a decade. He can regularly be heard performing with the Lone Star Wind Orchestra, one of the few professional wind bands in the country, and as principal tuba with both the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra and the McKinney Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally, he has performed with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Allen Philharmonic, Richardson Symphony, Irving Symphony, Dallas Chamber Symphony and the musical company Lyric Stage. Also a specialist in chamber music, Keith is a part of two professional tuba-euphonium quartets, fLOW Quartet and Isomer Quartet, that have recorded albums and performed across the United States and Japan. In various competitive settings, Keith has been a prize-winner at multiple prestigious international tuba competitions including those hosted by the International Tuba Euphonium Association and the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival. He can also be heard in the viral video "Down in the River to Pray" with the University of Texas at Austin tuba-euphonium studio, which has surpassed 1.7 million views on YouTube.
As an educator, Keith has taught at all academic levels from pre-middle school to collegiate graduate students. His pedagogical practice revolves around developing a high-level of musicality and the best possible sound quality, all while instilling a strong sense of the students’ individuality. His college students have gone on to start their careers as various types of music educators and his younger students have achieved many accolades including the coveted TMEA All-State status.
Keith is currently on faculty at Texas Woman's University and Collin College teaching applied tuba and euphonium lessons as well as music theory. He holds degrees from the University of North Texas (BM - Performance, BM - Music Theory) and the University of Texas at Austin (MM - Performance). He has had extended tuba studies with Don Little, Charles Villarrubia and Matt Good.
For a complete curriculum vitae, please visit www.keithpackman.com/cv
HIGH SCHOOL MASTERCLASS CLINICIANS
LOW BRASS FACULTY
BRIAN KAUK
University of Houston
Houston Grand Opera & Ballet, ret.
Brian Kauk (Trombone) became an Affiliate Artist of Trombone at the Moores School of Music in 1995, and was a member of the Moores Faculty Brass Quintet for 13 years. As a student of Allen Barnhill, he earned his B. M. in Applied Music from the University of Houston. He has performed extensively with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, including two international tours and can be heard on various recordings. In addition, he has performed with the Utah, San Antonio, and Jacksonville symphonies, and for numerous summers with the Utah Festival Opera Company and the Grand Teton Music Festival. Mr. Kauk has taught at the Texas Music Festival for many years and, in 2004, led efforts to successfully establish the Al Lube Scholarship Endowment, in honor of his former teacher. After decades of service, he retired as Principal Trombone of both the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet orchestras. While a member of the HGO orchestra, Mr. Kauk participated in NPR broadcasts as well as HGO's commercial CDs of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas and Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice and Men.
PHILLIP FREEMAN
University of Houston
Houston Symphony
Phillip Freeman began his musical studies on euphonium before switching to bass trombone during his senior year at the University of Houston. After completing a degree in composition he continued his study of trombone at the Manhattan School of Music. He was awarded fellowships to the Tanglewood Music Center and Spoleto Festival USA.
Freeman has been the bass trombonist of the Houston Symphony since 2007, before which he was a member of the Sarasota Opera orchestra. He has performed with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra, the Sarasota Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Houston Ballet on tenor and bass trombone, euphonium, and bass trumpet.
Formerly a faculty member of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and the American Festival for the Arts, he now teaches at the Texas Music Festival and the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston.
KEVIN FENSKE
University of Houston
Texas Low Brass Academy
Kevin Fenske is the Affiliate Professor of Euphonium at the University of Houston where he teaches undergraduate and graduate applied lessons, as well as brass chamber music at the Moores School of Music. Mr. Fenske serves as the Director and Founder of the Texas Low Brass Academy, a summer music camp and educational series for young low brass musicians centered around the exposure to low brass chamber music, artistic and personal development, and accessible world-class musical instruction.
As a performer, he has won prizes at various solo and chamber competitions, including the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival, International Tuba-Euphonium Conference, The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” Tuba-Euphonium Workshop, International Women’s Brass Conference, and the Briggs Chamber Music Competition, among others. He has performed with groups such as the Houston Symphony, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic, and the Akron Symphony Orchestra.
He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from the University of Houston, a Master of Music degree in euphonium performance from the University of Texas at Austin, and is currently in the process of completing dissertation requirements of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan (2024). His primary teachers include Danny Vinson, Charles Villarrubia, and David Zerkel.
MARK BARTON
University of Houston
Houston Grand Opera and Ballet
Mark Barton is currently principal tuba with the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Houston Ballet Orchestra. He has also performed with the Houston Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Waco Symphony, and the Grand Teton Music Festival. Barton received a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of St. Thomas, a Bachelor of Music in Tuba Performance and a Bachelor of Music Education from Baylor University. In recent years he has participated in the production of eight world premiere performances with Houston Grand Opera, the most recent being Andre Previn's A Brief Encounter. Barton is also an active freelance artist and clinician.