About Us
Product Information
Stacy Baker is Professor of Music – Tuba /Euphonium at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. Originally from Harsen’s Island, MI, she received both her M.M. and B.M. degrees from the University of Michigan where she graduated summa cum laude as a James B. Angell Scholar. She holds a D.M.A in Performance and Literature with highest honors from the University of Illinois.
She enjoys an active solo career appearing as a featured artist at the 2006, 2003 and 1997 International Women’s Brass Conferences (IWBC); the 2008, 2002 and 1998 International Tuba/Euphonium Conferences (ITEC); the 2007, 2004 and 2000 U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” Tuba/Euphonium Conferences; and the 2007 and 1999 Southeast Regional Tuba/Euphonium Conference (SERTEC).
Dr. Baker has toured and recorded throughout the United States and Europe as a founding member of the tuba/euphonium quartet JUNCTION, and with the Lexington Brass Band and Monarch Brass Ensemble. She is a member of the Lexington Brass Band, Athena Brass Band, the Horizon Brass Quintet, and the Symbiosis tuba/euphonium duo. She has also performed as principal tubist with the Warren Symphony and the Allen Park Symphony, and as substitute tubist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony, the Champaign/Urbana Symphony, and the Danville Symphony.
She served as co-editor of the International Women’s Brass Conference Newsletter from 2000-2003 and currently serves on the IWBC Board of Directors. Her teachers include Jeff Funderburk, Wes Jacobs, Tommy Johnson, Fritz Kaenzig, and Mark Moore.
Originally from Pompano Beach, Florida, Gail Robertson began her music studies at the University of Central Florida. She was then awarded a full-scholarship as graduate assistant to Harvey G. Phillips at Indiana University and completed her Masters Degree in Euphonium performance and earned a Performer’s Certificate. Ms. Robertson then began the DMA in euphonium performance at the University of Maryland with Dr. Brian L. Bowman. Two months later, she was relocated back to Orlando to become one of the founding members of Walt Disney World’s “Tubafours,” a professional tuba and euphonium quartet. She later became the leader and chief arranger for the group and produced a CD called “Tubas Under the Boardwalk.”
Robertson is currently Instructor of Euphonium and Tuba at the University of Central Florida and Low Brass at Valencia Community College. She has taught on the faculties of the University of Florida, Bethune-Cookman College, and Seminole Community College. As an artist-performer at these colleges, Gail has hosted many guest artists including; Brian Bowman, Steven Mead, Marty Erickson, John Mueller, Dave Zerkel, Robert and David Childs, John Griffiths, Neal Corwell, Jay Hunsberger, Earle Louder, Laura Lineberger, Kevin Stees, Dan Sipes, Stacy Baker, and many others. Additionally, she has served as an adjudicator for national and international music competitions including the Leonard Falcone Tuba and Euphonium Competition, International Tuba and Euphonium Conference Solo Artist and Tuba-Euphonium Competitions, and the Florida Bandmasters Association (District and State). Robertson is currently the President of the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC) and on the IWBC’s board of directors. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the International Tuba and Euphonium Association (ITEA) and as the “Euphonium and Membership Coordinator,” and as the President and Vice President of the Brass Band of Central Florida. In 2006, Gail was one of the Conference hosts at the International Women’s Brass Conference held at Illinois State University.
An in demand free-lance artist, Gail tours the U.S. and Japan with Keith Brion’s “New Sousa Band” as soloist and Stage Manager, tours the U.S. and the Cayman Islands with the Brass Band of Battle Creek, the Florida Wind Band, SYMPHONIA, Euphoniums Unlimited, the Athena Brass Band, the Brass Band of Central Florida, and has toured with the Jack Daniel’s Silver Cornet Band and the River City Brass Band. She has also been featured soloist with the Brass Band of Columbus, the Georgia Brass Band, and the Brass Band of Battle Creek. Robertson has appeared frequently as a soloist and clinician for the U.S. Army Band Tuba and Euphonium Conference, the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference (ITEC), and the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC).
In 2007, Gail was a clinician for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago where she also received Tau Beta Sigma’s highest honor, the “Outstanding Service to Music Award.” Other soloist and clinician appearances include the 2009 SEATEC, hosted by Chris Olka, the 2007 SERTEC hosted by Jay Hunsberger, the Georgia Honors Low Brass Conference, the Red Cedar Festival of Community Bands, the Howard Hovey Tuba Day, the 2006 and 2008 International Euphonium Institutes, the Great American Brass Band Festival, and the “Harvey Phillips Big Brass Bash” in Seattle, Washington. In 2005, Tennessee Tech University invited Gail to be a featured artist and she wrote custom arrangements for the famous Tennessee Tech Tuba and Euphonium Ensemble. In 2006, Gail performed with “Euphoniums Unlimited” in Denver, Colorado at the ITEC and with the Monarch Brass at the International Trumpet Guild Conference. In the Jazz Genre, Gail has played with Lionel Hampton, Andréa Rowlison, Wycliffe Gordon, Della Reese, Marty Erickson, and DIVA. She has also performed with the Florida West Coast Symphony, the Sarasota Orchestra, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, and other Florida orchestras. In January 2007, Gail played tuba for “Annie” and euphonium with the Key West Symphony Orchestra. She can also be heard on recordings with the Brass Band of Battle Creek, the Brass Band of Central Florida, the University of Florida Wind Symphony and the Walt Disney World Company.
As a composer, Gail was commissioned to compose “Psychedelic Dances” for the Tuba-Euphonium Quartet of the USAF Reserve and was commissioned to compose “A Euphers Dream,” for the 2006 International Women’s Brass Conference. Several of Gail’s tuba and euphonium ensemble arrangements and compositions are published by Euphonium.com and the Tuba and Euphonium Press. She has also arranged for The University of Florida Gator Marching Band and Valdosta State University Blazin’ Brigade and other Florida high schools. She is also the founder and coordinator of the Orlando TUBAMANIA and the coordinator of the Orlando TUBACHRISTMAS. As a York Brass International Euphonium Artist, Gail’s euphonium of choice is the York Eminence YO-EU4052 with a Warburton/Gail Robertson mouthpiece. Her Baritone Horn of choice is a York Preference YO-BA3056.
Visit Gail Robertson’s website at GailRobertson.com
____________
DEBORAH EASTWOOD is Instructor of Music at Morehead State University, Morehead, KY. Originally from Wytheville, VA, she earned her B.M. degree in Trumpet Performance from James Madison University; M.M. degree in Trumpet Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music- John Hopkins University; and D.M.A. degree in Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign.
Dr. Eastwood has toured and recorded as a member of the Athena Brass Band, the Lexington Brass Band, and the Horizon Brass Quintet. She has performed with the Skyline Brass Ensemble, the Virginia Symphony, the West Virginia Symphony, the Danville Symphony, the Champaign-Urbana Symphony, and the Lancaster Opera Company. Dr. Eastwood has also performed at conferences/festivals hosted by the International Trumpet Guild (ITG); the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC); the International Trombone Association (ITA); the Southeast Regional Tuba/ Euphonium Conference (SERTEC); the North American Brass Brand Association (NABBA); and the Great American Brass Band Festival. Her teachers include Michael Ewald, Langston Fitzgerald III, and James Kluesner.
ALEX THIO is instrumental accompanist and piano instructor based in Cincinnati, Ohio. A native of Singapore, he pursued his undergraduate studies in piano performance at Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana. He continued his academic pursuits at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music where he attained the Masters of Music degree in Piano Performance. He embarked on doctoral studies in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy at the Conservatory and continues to work towards acquiring the Doctor of Musical Arts degree.
As a collaborative pianist, Mr Thio has appeared in performances and competitions organized by the North American Brass Band Association, the International Women’s Brass Conference and the International Tuba Euphonium Conference. He has also collaborated in concert with brass artists such as Gail Robertson, Stacy Baker, Jay Hunsberger, Timothy Northcut and Earle Louder.
He is an active adjudicator for evaluation festivals and piano competitions such as those organized by the American Guild of Music.
Mr Thio currently is Staff Accompanist at the Northern Kentucky University Music Department. He also serves as choral accompanist to the Sycamore Junior High and High School choirs in Blue Ash, Ohio. He is also choral accompanist for the Sycamore Community Summer Singers and will be performing on a concert tour to London, France and Belgium in the Summer of 2011.