2024 Adjudicators and Clinicians
Return: 2024 National Orchestra Festival
Dr. Christopher Selby is the author of Habits of a Successful Orchestra Director, Music Theory for the Successful String Musician, and the lead string author of the Habits of a Successful String Musician series published by GIA. He is an active clinician and conductor, and has presented sessions at numerous Midwest Clinics, American String Teacher Association (ASTA) National Conferences, and state conferences across America. Dr. Selby currently directs the high school orchestras at the School of the Arts in Charleston, SC. His orchestras have performed at the Midwest Clinic and have twice won the top award of Grand Champion at ASTA’s National Orchestra Festival.
Dr. Selby earned a music education degree from the Hartt School of Music, and a Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Orchestral Conducting from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Selby guest conducts Regional and All-State Orchestras across America, and he has held state and national leadership positions in ASTA and NAfME throughout the past twenty years. He is a contributing author for Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra, vol. 4 and other books published by GIA.
Corie Benton is the Orchestra Director at Pope High School in Cobb County, Georgia.
She received her Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Loyola University-New Orleans and her Masters’ degree from Anderson University in South Carolina. Mrs. Benton began her career in Texas and then moved to Georgia in 1995.
Throughout her tenure as a music educator, her orchestras have received superior ratings at contest festivals. Moreover, she has been very active in the music community: presented at Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service (2013) and ASTA National Conference (2022, 2023); performed at GMEA In-Service twice and had students perform in 2015 and 2019. Her students competed in ASTA’s National Orchestra Festival (NOF) in 2018, receiving superior ratings for their performance. Mrs. Benton is a regularly requested Adjudicator at workshops, clinics, Honor Orchestras, and LGPEs around the country. She is a member of GMEA, Past President of the Georgia chapter of ASTA, and a board member of national ASTA.
Mrs. Benton works with area colleges and universities as an advocate for teacher education, mentoring future music educators, and equity and inclusion. Although Mrs. Benton loves music, her greatest love is her family, husband Robert Benton and sons, Cameron and William.
David Pope serves an Associate Professor of Music Education and Chair of Professional Studies at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. Prior to Baldwin Wallace, Dr. Pope taught middle and high orchestra in Tennessee, Florida, and Ohio. As an active adjudicator and clinician, Dr. Pope has conducted numerous all-state and honor orchestras and served as a guest clinician for numerous K-12 orchestra programs, university summer camps, and music education programs. Dr. Pope consistently presents string pedagogy clinics and his research at the European String Teachers Association’s (ESTA) International Congress (ESTA), the American String Teacher Association’s (ASTA) National Conference, The Midwest Clinic, and numerous regional and state conferences. He also currently serves as the Editor for the String Research Journal. Dr. Pope recently served as a co-editor for volume 4 of Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra and as a co-author for Sound Orchestra. Dr. Pope has been recognized with the Ohio ASTA Collegiate Educator of the Year (2022), the Distinguished Music Educator Award by the Yale Symposium for Music in Schools (2015), ASTA’s Presidential Service Award (2021), and ASTA’s Emerging String Researcher Award (2020). He previously served as Chair of the ASTA National Conference (2020, 2021, 2023).
Dr. Elizabeth Chappell is Assistant Professor of String Music Education at Texas Tech University. She received her master’s and PhD in Music and Human Learning from the University of Texas at Austin and Bachelor of Music Therapy from the University of Kansas. Dr. Chappell taught orchestra in the Austin Independent School District for 17 years and spent the majority of that time building orchestra programs in Title I schools. In 2013 she was awarded National Board Certification recognizing her commitment and accomplishments in the classroom. Prior to her appointment at Tech, Dr. Chappell served as Assistant Professor of String Music Education at the University of North Texas.
Described by the New York Times as a conductor who "radiates enthusiasm" and the Los Angeles Times as "a real grabber", Jung-Ho Pak is known for his unique and radical vision of the role of symphonic and classical music in our modern world. Currently, Mr. Pak is Artistic Director of the Bay Philharmonic, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Previously, he has been Artistic Director and Conductor of the Cape Symphony (2006-2023), the San Diego Symphony, the New Haven Symphony, and Orchestra Nova. From 2003-2017, he was Director of Orchestras and Music Director of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. As Music Director of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra (1997-2002), Mr. Pak led the orchestra from bankruptcy to an unprecedented financial success. As a nationally recognized educator, he served as Music Director with the University of Southern California (USC) Symphony and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra. He has also served as Principal Conductor of the Emmy-nominated Disney Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra and as Music Director of the Debut Orchestra, International Chamber Orchestra, NEXT Chamber Orchestra, Colburn Chamber Orchestra, and Diablo Ballet. Guest conducting has taken him to Europe, Russia, South America and Asia. Mr. Pak is also a frequent speaker on television and radio including TED Talks and NPR appearances, as well as a clinician and conductor at national music festivals.
Bruce Walker is an Associate Professor of Music at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, WA, Music Director for the Walla Walla Symphony Youth Orchestra, Past President of the Washington chapter for the American String Teachers Association, on the Board of Directors for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, College/University representative for the Washington Music Educators Association, and the 2021 Music Educator of the Year by the Washington Music Educators Association. Previously, he held the position of Music Director for the Yakima Youth Symphony and Oregon East Symphony Youth Orchestras. During the summer months, Mr. Walker works throughout the United States and Canada at various Suzuki institutes, music camps, festivals, and retreats. Internationally, he has also worked with the Youth Excellence on Stage Academy in collaboration with American Voices, a non-profit, cultural exchange organization. Through this organization, he has conducted orchestras and taught cello in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.
Mr. Walker earned Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Cello Performance from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a Master of Music degree from Central Washington University focusing on Orchestral Conducting and Cello Performance. In the fall of 2019, he began his Doctor of Music Arts degree in Music Education through Boston University. When not in the classroom, on the podium working with ensembles, or teaching cello lessons, he enjoys hiking and traveling around the Pacific Northwest, enjoying time outside around a BBQ pit and smoker sampling new culinary creations, or shopping for and admiring argyle socks.
Karel Butz is a Houston-based violinist, composer, and string pedagogy author. His music is published by Musica Propria, Inc. and has been performed worldwide. His book 'Achieving Musical Success in the String Classroom' is published by Oxford University Press. His orchestras have performed at the Midwest Clinic, were consistent UIL Sweepstakes Winners, National Honor Orchestra Winners in the Foundation for Music Education Mark of Excellence Competition, and Texas State Honor Orchestra Finalists. Under his direction, the Beckendorff Junior High School Honor Orchestra was named the 2019 Texas State Honor Orchestra and 2019 Houston Cup Winner. He is a frequent guest conductor, lecturer, and clinician around the country.
Samuel Tsugawa is an associate professor of music education and holds Bachelors and Masters of Music Education degrees from Brigham Young University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music education from Arizona State University. As an orchestra teacher in the public schools for 28 years, ensembles under Dr. Tsugawa’s baton had a reputation as outstanding performance groups.
Recognized by his colleagues as an accomplished classroom teacher, Dr. Tsugawa has received state educator of the year honors as Phi Delta Kappa’s Utah Walmart Teacher of the Year. State arts and music education organizations have presented Dr. Tsugawa with the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Legacy Award for Excellence in Arts Education, the Utah High School Activities Association Distinguished Service Award, and music educator of the year honors from the Utah American String Teachers Association and Utah Music Educators Association.
Dr. Tsugawa has a growing number of publications and has presented papers and workshops at national and international research and practitioner conferences. His teaching interests, research, and publications focus on older adult music learning, music teacher education, popular music, action research, and orchestra classroom pedagogy. Dr. Tsugawa served as president of the Utah Music Educators Association and Western Division President for the National Association for Music Education and as a member of NAfME’s National Executive Board.