Dr. Corey Spurlin - Director

Auburn University

 

Corey Spurlin serves as Professor of Music, Marching Band Director, and Associate Director of Bands at Auburn University. In addition to his leadership of the athletic band program, he conducts the Concert Band, is associate conductor of the Auburn Symphonic Winds, and teaches courses in undergraduate and graduate conducting, wind band literature, and graduate instrumental leadership. Under his leadership, the Auburn University Marching Band recently won the inaugural Metallica Marching Band Competition and was the first marching band to record the main theme for the popular EA Sports College Football video game. Dr. Spurlin was recently elected as the first President of the SEC Band Directors Association. For the past eight years, he has served as the Southern Division Chair for the National Band Association. He is also a member of Phi Beta Mu International Band Fraternity and CBDNA, for which he has served on the athletic band committee for seven years.

 

Dr. Spurlin is also active throughout the U.S. as a conducting and marching band clinician and adjudicator. He currently serves as the Director of the Pearl Harbor 85th Anniversary Collegiate Mass Band and recently served as the Director of the D-Day 80th Anniversary Collegiate Mass Band, which performed for the 80th Anniversary D-Day celebrations in France in June 2024. He has conducted the Alabama All-State Blue Band; collegiate honor bands at Colorado State University, University of Georgia, West Virginia University, and Southern Illinois University; and he served as a marching band adjudicator for the University of Hawaii, University of Illinois, University of Missouri, Washington State University, BYU, Eastern New Mexico University, and for UIL Texas State Finals. He has served as a guest lecturer and/or conductor at the University of Oklahoma, West Virginia University, Georgia State University, Ohio State University, University of Alabama Birmingham, University of Texas Wesleyan, University of Texas at Arlington, Eastern New Mexico University, and the University of Akron.  He is published in six volumes of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, twice in the National Band Association Journal, and he is a contributing author for the marching band textbook The System by Gary Smith. He has presented twelve times at the CBDNA Athletic Band Symposium, co-presented at the Midwest Clinic, presented twice for the Reach Through Music series, and was as a feature guest for Music for All Lunchtime Chats. In addition, he served for 13 years as the head drill design clinician at the Smith Walbridge Camps at Eastern Illinois University.

Dr. Amy Knopps - Assistant Director

University of Missouri

 

Amy M. Knopps is the Co-Interim Associate Director of the School of Music, Associate Director of Bands, Director of Athletic Bands, and Area Coordinator of Large Ensembles at the University of Missouri, where she directs Marching Mizzou, Mini Mizzou, and the Symphonic Band, while also teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in the School of Music. Since her appointment in 2017, Marching Mizzou has grown from 245 members to a current capacity of 350. Under her leadership, the ensemble performed in the 96th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2022—leading the parade and appearing in the opening number alongside Lea Michele and the cast of Funny Girl—and earned the distinction of “Best Overall Band” at the 2024 St. Patrick’s Festival Parade in Dublin, Ireland. In another prestigious milestone, Marching Mizzou has been invited to participate in London Band Week in June 2026, a distinct honor as this is an invitation-only event recognizing elite musical ensembles from around the world.

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Prior to joining Mizzou, Dr. Knopps served for seven years as Associate Professor of Music, Associate Director of Bands, and Director of Athletic Bands at Eastern Michigan University. There, she was a Faculty Spotlight Recipient, the inaugural Thank-A-Teacher Award recipient, and was featured in the historic exhibition In Her Shoes: Forging Paths at EMU. She was the first woman to direct the EMU Marching Band and, alongside Dr. Mary Schneider, formed the first all-female collegiate Director and Associate Director of Bands team in the nation.

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Dr. Knopps earned degrees from The University of Georgia (DMA), the University of Kansas (MM), and the University of Missouri (BS, Ed.) where her principal conducting teachers were Dr. John P. Lynch and Dr. Dale J. Lonis. While at Georgia and Kansas she held conducting associate positions that involved conducting both concert and athletic bands as well as teaching courses in the music curriculum. During her time at The University of Georgia, Dr. Knopps earned the Hugh Hodgson School of Music Director’s Excellence Award and at the University of Kansas she earned the prestigious Russell L. Wiley Graduate Conducting Award.

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Additional teaching experience includes numerous years as Director of Bands at Center High School and Center Middle School in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri where she guided all aspects of the diverse and award-winning band program, as well as served as the Fine Arts Coordinator. While in the Center School District, she led a vibrant, award-winning program and was honored with the 2003 Missouri Fine Arts Outstanding Teacher Award and the 2004 You Make the Difference Award. In 2003, she solely commissioned and premiered Jonathan Newman’s 1861 for concert band, launching her long-standing commitment to supporting new and diverse wind band repertoire through commissions with Symphonic Band at Mizzou.

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Dr. Knopps continues to be a very active conductor, clinician, and adjudicator across the United States and internationally having worked and performed throughout Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, and South America. In 2025, she was named Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Wind Symphony after several years of serving as an honored guest conductor with this professional wind ensemble. For over a decade, she has served as a head clinician/instructor at the Smith-Walbridge Clinics held in Charleston, Illinois working with high school and collegiate drum majors from across the country. Her publications include articles in School Band and Orchestra Magazine, eight contributions to the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, and a feature in the 2023 book Women in Wind Band, a book that thoughtfully looks at why female-identifying band directors are still a minority in the field. She has also conducted significant research on American-sponsored overseas secondary band programs.

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Dr. Knopps maintains professional affiliations with the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), currently serving as Chair of the CBDNA Athletic Bands Committee in her second term, the first woman to ever serve in this position, and as Missouri State Chair, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), National Band Association (NBA), Missouri Women's Band Directors Association (MWBD), Phi Beta Mu, Tau Beta Sigma, Kappa Kappa Psi, currently serving as the sponsor for the Eta Upsilon chapter, the Griffiths Leadership Society for Women, currently serving on the Executive Committee as Past Chair, and QEBH, the oldest of six secret honor societies at the University of Missouri when she was Honor Tapped in 2018.

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In 2021, Dr. Knopps was named Associate Professor of the Year and earned a Purple Chalk Teaching Award from the College of Arts and Science. In 2022, Dr. Knopps was named to the 2022-2023 University of Missouri Provost Leadership Program Cohort. In 2023, Dr. Knopps earned a Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Arts and Science, the Faculty and Alumni Award from the Mizzou Alumni Association, and was inducted into the Marching Mizzou Hall of Fame. In 2024, Dr. Knopps earned the William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, the highest award offered at Mizzou. In 2025, she was inducted into the Lee’s Summit High School Hall of Fame, joining her brother, Anthony Knopps, and one of the first set of siblings to receive this honor. That same year, Dr. Knopps also joined Jupiter Band Instruments as an endorsed artist and educator, furthering her commitment to excellence, creativity, and dedication to technological advances in the collegiate marching arts.

Dr. Craig Aarhus - Assistant Director

Mississippi State University

 

Dr. Craig Aarhus is Associate Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Mississippi State University. At MSU, he co-directs the Famous Maroon Band and basketball pep bands, conducts Wind Ensemble "B," the Concert Band, and Campus Band, and teaches Conducting and Brass Techniques in the Department of Music. He also currently serves as the area coordinator for Music Education in the department. As a member of the band faculty, Dr. Aarhus has been part of a team that has helped lead the band program to unprecedented growth, making it currently one of the largest bands in the Southeast.

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A native of Alabama, Dr. Aarhus received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Auburn University and his Master of Arts and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Conducting from The University of Iowa.  While at Iowa, he was the recipient of the prestigious Iowa Performance Fellowship and was a conducting student of Dr. Myron Welch.  He also served as a graduate conductor for all of the concert bands, arranged music and wrote drill for the Hawkeye Marching Band, and was co-director of the Iowa Pep Band.  During this time, he was also the director of the Southeast Iowa Concert Band at Iowa Wesleyan College for one year. Prior to his appointment at MSU, Dr. Aarhus was a successful high school and middle band director in the public schools of Lanett, Tallassee, and Mobile, Alabama.

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Dr. Aarhus is a member of several professional organizations including Phi Beta Mu (Past-President, Delta Chapter), the College Band Directors National Association, Phi Mu Alpha, Tau Beta Sigma and the Mississippi Bandmasters Association. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the National Band Association and recently completed a ten year tenure as a Governor for the Southeast District of Kappa Kappa Psi.  Dr. Aarhus has been an adjudicator and clinician throughout the Southeast, Midwest, and in Canada, and is a contributing author to five volumes of the popular Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series. He has presented at numerous state and national conferences, including The Midwest Clinic, the CBDNA Summer Athletic Band Symposium, and the Mississippi Bandmasters Association State Band Clinic.

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In the summer of 2024, Dr. Aarhus served on the staff of the D-Day 80th Anniversary Collegiate Mass Band and helped lead performances in the Normandy region of France to honor the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. The Delta Chapter of Phi Beta Mu selected Dr. Aarhus as the 2022 “Outstanding Bandmaster” in Mississippi, and in 2019, the Southeast District of Kappa Kappa Psi named their "Outstanding Director/Sponsor" Award after him. Other recent honors and awards include the A. Frank Martin Award from Kappa Kappa Psi for excellence in fraternity service (2017), the Clyde Muse Service Award from the MSU College of Education (2015) and selection to the George Duke Humphrey Faculty Leadership Program (2015). In 2010 and 2011, he was a recipient of the “StatePride” Award for excellence in teaching, research, and service. He has been a clinician/instructor at the Smith-Walbridge Drum Major Clinics for over 20 years, and in that capacity has had the opportunity to teach hundreds of high school and college drum majors from across the country. Dr. Aarhus and his family reside in Starkville and are members of First Presbyterian Church, where he has served as Music Director since 2007.

Dr. Nikki Gross - Assistant Director

Auburn University

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Nikki Gross serves as the Assistant Director of Athletic Bands at Auburn University working with both the award-winning Auburn University Marching Band and basketball pep bands. 

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Dr. Gross is active as a guest conductor, clinician, and drill writer. Her recent work as drill writer for the light shows by the Auburn University Marching Band have received national and international attention. During her career she has also written drill for high schools in Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida, and colleges such as West Virginia University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Dayton, Indiana State University, and Elon University. 

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Throughout her career Dr. Gross has worked in leadership training, with high school and college students and with young music education professionals. She served as a staff member for Mid-Atlantic Camps (Richmond, VA) for twenty-six years and was the lead instructor for the drum major area from 1998 through 2017. Additionally, she was the lead instructor for the WVU Mountaineer Music Leadership Academy in 2015 and 2016. As a mentor with Leaders Creating Leaders, she provides professional guidance for young band directors. She holds membership in the College Band Director’s National Association, is an honorary member of both Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma and is the chapter sponsor for the Theta Lambda chapter of TBS at Auburn University. 

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Prior to her appointment at Auburn, she served as Director of Athletic Bands at Indiana State University, marching and concert band director at the University of Dayton, and Assistant Director of Bands at West Virginia University. During her career she has taught courses within the music education curriculum, general music elective courses, and has served as a supervisor for student teachers. 

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Dr. Gross received her Doctor of Musical Arts in instrumental conducting from the University of South Carolina, where she studied with Scott Weiss, and the Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from West Virginia University as a student of Don Wilcox, John Hendricks, and Lawrence Christianson. She served as a Graduate Assistant for the bands at the University of South Carolina and at West Virginia University. 

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Dr. Gross instructed instrumental music for seven years in grades 8-12 in the Virginia public schools where her bands received regional and state honors and recognitions. 

Dr. Tony Falcone - Assistant Director

University of Nebraska

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Anthony M. Falcone is the Associate Director of Bands at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His duties include directing the Cornhusker Marching Band, conducting the Symphonic Band, and assisting with the administration of all University Bands. He is also active in the Percussion Studio, teaching lessons, and coaching the Percussion Ensemble. He has held previous appointments at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville; James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA; and Truman State University in Kirksville, MO. He earned his B.M.Ed. and M.M. degrees from James Madison University where he studied percussion with C. William Rice and conducting with Dr. J. Patrick Rooney. He was also a student of concert artist Leigh Howard Stevens in his intensive Summer Marimba Seminar.

 

Prof. Falcone is very active as a marching and concert band clinician, arranger, and adjudicator for school music programs throughout the country. He serves regularly as a guest conductor for honor bands and his clinics have been received at several state conventions including TMEA and the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. Arranger’s Publishing Company and Alfred Publications have published his arrangements. He has also performed across the nation as a percussionist and percussion soloist appearing on national television, radio and motion pictures. Locally he is a member of the Plymouth Brass, a regular performer with the Lincoln Municipal Band, and was recently appointed Principal Timpanist of Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra. He is also an educational artist for Innovative Percussion and Remo Inc. He has served as Midwest District Governor and National Vice President for Professional Relations for Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, Concert Band Chair for the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association and Nebraska Chapter President of the Percussive Arts Society.