2022 Young Composer/Conductor Mentor Project Participants

HENRY DICKSON Composer TYLER EHRLICH Conductor BENJAMIN POUNCEY Conductor CEON RUMPHS Conductor TREVOR SMITH Composer MICHAEL STANDARD Conductor

CONDUCTORS

TYLER EHRLICH

This fall, Tyler Ehrlich will begin serving as a doctoral teaching assistant in Wind Conducting at The University of Texas at Austin. In this role, he will assist with the conducting and administration of the university’s concerts bands, athletic bands, conducting courses, and the New Music Ensemble.

Ehrlich previously lived in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as a conductor and educator at the secondary and collegiate levels. For three years, he served on the faculty of Emory University, where he conducted the Wind Ensemble. While at Emory, Ehrlich premiered multiple student compositions and collaborated with faculty soloists. Additionally, Ehrlich taught band, music technology, and International Baccalaureate music courses at Decatur High School and Centennial High School in the metro-Atlanta area. The Centennial Bands received their first national performance invitation as a guest ensemble for the 2020 Music For All National Chamber Music Festival. Ehrlich has received the National Band Association Citation of Excellence for his work with the Atlanta Wind Symphony. He has conducted the group at the 75th annual Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in December 2021 and the Georgia Music Educators In-Service Conference in January 2020.

Ehrlich has presented on music technology and pedagogy at the Midwest Clinic, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles International Conference, the College Band Directors National Association National Conference, and the Georgia Music Educators In-Service Conference. Ehrlich has a Master of Music degree from the University of Georgia, and a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Cornell University.

2022 YCCMP Participants, cont.

Conductors, cont.

BENJAMIN POUNCEY

Benjamin Pouncey, a native of Columbia, South Carolina, is currently pursuing a Master of Music in wind conducting from Colorado State University. As a graduate teaching assistant, Pouncey serves as guest conductor of the Colorado State Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band, and assists with the Colorado State Marching Band, Presidential Pep Band, and the Rampage Basketball Band.

Pouncey most recently served as Director of Bands at Ashley Ridge High School (Summerville, South Carolina) where he directed the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Marching Band, and Jazz Band, as well as oversaw the Winter Guard program. Prior to Ashley Ridge, he was co-Director of Bands at DuBose Middle School (Summerville) where he was the 2013 Rookie Teacher of the Year. The DuBose Symphonic Band was a featured ensemble at the 2018 South Carolina Music Educators Conference.

An alumnus of The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps, Pouncey served as the corps’s drum major from 2009 to 2011 and was a member of the trumpet section in 2007 and 2008. He was the recipient of the 2011 DCI Jim Jones Leadership Award.

Pouncey graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2012 from the University of South Carolina where he earned a Bachelor of Music Education. He participated in the Wind Ensemble’s 2011 recording for the NAXOS label, under the direction of Dr. Scott Weiss, and he was a member of the 2012 National Concert Tour in China.

CEON RUMPHS

Ceon Rumphs is a candidate for the Master of Music degree in Wind Conducting at Baylor University where he studies with Dr. Eric Wilson and serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Baylor Bands. He also holds the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baylor University (2016) and was a Distinguished Honors Program Graduate, earning an “Outstanding” designation for his undergraduate thesis defense. At Baylor, Rumphs’s primary responsibilities are to guest conduct the Baylor Wind Ensemble, Baylor Symphonic Band, and Baylor Concert Band. He serves as a graduate staff assistant for the Golden Wave Marching Band and as a teaching assistant for the undergraduate conducting courses. As an undergraduate, he was a two-year Drum Major for the Golden Wave Marching Band.

Prior to graduate study, Rumphs was the Assistant Director of Bands at Benbrook Middle-High School (Fort Worth, Texas). He directed all aspects of the Middle School Band Program and assisted with all aspects of the High School Band Program. The Benbrook Bands have received multiple Superior ratings at contest, and, under his assistance, the Marching Band appeared at multiple finals competitions at various 4A High School Marching Band Contests in the metroplex.

Rumphs has participated in conducting symposia across the country and has studied with such distinguished conducting pedagogues as Jerry Junkin, Craig Kirchoff, Allan McMurray, Kevin Sedatole, and Mallory Thompson. Additionally, Rumphs continues to study saxophone at Baylor under the tutelage Dr. Michael Jacobson and is a regular performer in the Baylor Wind Ensemble.

2022 YCCMP Participants, cont.

COMPOSERS

HENRY DICKSON

Henry Dickson strives to compose works that capture and amplify experiences that cannot be communicated in words. With an unapologetic lyricism, energy, and candor, his music seeks to explore ethereal and visceral worlds in a sincere, invigorating manner. He hopes his work can build communities by bringing people together and connecting emotionally with listeners. His orchestra work Uncharted was selected to be performed by the University Philharmonia Orchestra at the University of Michigan in 2020. In addition to composition, Dickson plays clarinet and also enjoys conducting, computer science, and teaching organic chemistry. Dickson is currently pursuing the Bachelor of Music in Composition from the University of Michigan, where he is studying with Michael Daugherty. He is also grateful to have studied with and been mentored by Bright Sheng, Roshanne Etezady and Jules Pegram.

TREVOR SMITH

As a composer and percussionist in the new music community, Smith advocates for work that begins from a frame of raw gesture and physicality. He writes and performs music that both engages and challenges the listener, and is interested in surprising others with uncanny, unnatural processes, often balanced with moments of simplicity or meditation. This approach allows for rich phenomenological experiences, asking us abandon expectations and give both listeners and artists a foundation to access authentic, visceral reactions that can be used to reflect on oneself or spark discourse around larger societal issues. Smith’s deepest influences originate in his exposure to local punk rock scenes, contemporary percussion, and creative processes borrowed from the visual arts.

Smith recently graduated with a DMA in Composition from Michigan State University where he studied with Lyn Goeringer, Ricardo Lorenz, and Alexis Bacon. He is also pursuing music theory research regarding musical-visual ekphrasis and interdisciplinary research that addresses contemporary performance on popular digital platforms. He is currently based in East Lansing, Michigan.

MICHAEL STANDARD

Michael Standard is an American composer and percussionist living in Tampa, Florida. His music for band, orchestra, and chamber ensembles has been performed in the United States in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Tampa, as well as internationally in Canada, China, and Malaysia. His recent projects have included an original electronic work for Ya La’Ford’s installation at the Indianapolis 500 and a recording of David Liptak’s Concerto for Piano and Percussion Orchestra. Recent festival performances include the Brancaleoni International Music Festival, Mostly Modern Festival, and the Electroacoustic Barn Dance. He has received grants from the Arts Council of Hillsborough County (Tampa), the Gobioff Foundation, and Art on the Beltline (Atlanta) to support his work. His mentors include Baljinder Sekhon, Paul Reller, Robert Scott Thompson, Nickitas Demos, Robert McCormick, Stuart Gerber, Charles Settle, and Matt Ward. Standard is a co-founder of the Homegrown New Music Ensemble, a nonprofit organization specializing in creative placemaking and artistic partnerships. He is on faculty at the University of Tampa.