Director of Athletic Bands at Northern Illinois University

Dr. Thomas Bough

Dr. Thomas Bough joined the faculty of Northern Illinois University in the fall of 2005 as the Director of Athletic Bands.  He also conducts the Wind Symphony and teaches graduate conducting and instrumental arranging.  Bough holds MM and DMA degrees in Tuba Performance from Arizona State University, where he was a student of Sam Pilafian and Dan Perantoni.  He holds the degree Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Missouri State University, where he was active in both vocal and instrumental music.  From 1999 – 2005 Bough served as the Assistant Director of Bands and Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, and from 1992-1999 as the Band Director at Westwood High School in Mesa, Arizona.  Since 2017, he has served as the founding conductor and music director of the Fox Valley Brass Band in Aurora, Illinois. 

Dr. Bough’s diverse performance background includes wind bands, brass bands, orchestras, chamber music, jazz bands, Dixieland, the Walt Disney World All American College Band and the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps.   He is a Yamaha sponsored artist, and performs on the Yamaha 822 CC tuba and Yamaha 822 F tuba.  In this capacity, he served as a brass consultant and guest instructor with the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps for six years. He was also an instructor with the Phantom Regiment Alumni Corps in 2016. Bough has contributed nearly twenty articles and hundreds of new music reviews to the Instrumentalist magazine, School Band and Orchestra magazine, and DCI Today, as well as articles to five volumes of the Teaching Music Through Performance series as well as Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz. In 2019, Bough was invited to partner with the Dansr company as a Denis Wick Ambassador.  

Dr. Bough is an active conductor, arranger, composer, clinician, and adjudicator for concert band, marching band, and brass band, with dozens of appearances per year to his credit across the United States.  His music is published by Alfred Publications, Cimarron Music and GPG Publications.  He has served as a frequent masterclass clinician and/or conductor for the Music For All Summer Symposium and the Music For All National Concert Band Festival for over fifteen years.  He has presented masterclasses at the Eastman School of Music, the Crane School of Music, Arizona State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Toledo, and UNC-Greensboro, among many others. Bough has presented three times at the Midwest Clinic and twice at the U.S. Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Conference, as well as the International Society for Music Education Conference in Beijing, China, four NAFME multi-state regional conventions, the International Horn Society Conference and the International Women’s Brass Conference. In addition, he has presented 

at Music Educators Association State Conventions in Illinois, Arizona, Texas, Iowa, Tennessee, Alaska, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Colorado, Nebraska, Arkansas, North Carolina, Indiana, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Washington, Florida and the Texas Bandmasters Association. 

In May of 2014, his first compact disc was released, entitled, Concertos for Brass: The Music of Thomas Bough.  This disc features three original concerti for solo brass instruments and wind band, as well as a transcription of the Concerto in Eb by Neruda.  It is available on the Summit Records label at www.summitrecords.com.  Since then, recent commissions have included “Musings on Mahler” for Solo Trumpet and Band, “Legacy of Luther” from Concordia University in Chicago, “Air Mobility Fanfare” from the U.S. Air Force Band at Scott Air Force Base, “Poorest of the Poor: Music for Mother Teresa”, from the University of San Diego, “Fortress of Peace” from the Southwest Community Concert Band, “Leviathan” from Hubble Middle School, and “Burn” for Alto Saxophone and Band, commissioned by Dr. Greg Dewhirst from Texas Wesleyan University.  

Learn more about his work at www.TomBough.com. 

Commander of the Air National Guard Band of the Midwest, the 566th Air Force Band

Lt. Col. Bryan Miller

Lt. Col. Bryan Miller has the honor of serving our country as the commander of the Air National Guard Band of the Midwest, the 566th Air Force Band. He volunteered for deployments in 2010 and 2012, leading missions in numerous undisclosed locations throughout Southwest Asia and Africa for the deployed AFCENT bands New Directions and Vector. Stateside mission highlights include Rockefeller Center Plaza’s Centennial of Flight Exposition, Mount Rushmore’s Independence Day Celebration, performances honoring the Tuskegee Airmen, Neil Armstrong, and funeral memorial honors for President Ronald Reagan. He has guest conducted the United States Air Force Band and has produced recording sessions for the USAF Band of Mid-America at Chicago’s Symphony Center.

A traditional guardsmen, he has served as Leyden High School’s Music Department Chair since 1994. Building upon his predecessors’ legacy and assembling a staff of dynamic colleagues, students have enjoyed many successes under his leadership. He has also served as adjunct music education faculty for Elmhurst, North Central, and VanderCook Colleges.

He founded the Chicagoland Educators Orchestra. Guest conducting engagements include the Salt Creek Sinfonietta, the Wheaton Municipal Band, ILMEA, and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. A CYSO alumnus, he now serves on its Board of Directors. He also served as Music Director for the Illinois Ambassadors of Music 2006-2010 European Concert Tours before resigning this position to volunteer for a second deployment.

An active trumpet artist, Lt. Col. Miller had the honor of performing under Daniel Barenboim with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera Brass Section for the Arnold Jacobs Memorial Tribute Concert at Symphony Center. His brass quintet was a semi-finalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. While principal trumpet in the Wheaton Municipal Band, he regularly served as a featured soloist. He is an alumnus of the NIU Jazz Ensemble, a founding member of the Pete Ellman Big Band, and a member of Park Avenue.

Lt. Col. Miller’s military awards include the Citizen Soldier Award, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal, the Texas Legion of Merit Medal, the USAF Outstanding Unit Medal, the Air Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Small Arms Expert Medal, and the National Defense Medal.

Lt. Col. Miller earned his undergraduate degree in Music Education from Northern Illinois University and his graduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, where he served as the Graduate Director of Bands. He attended both institutions on academic and music scholarships. He also holds a Type 75 administrative certificate from Northern Illinois University and a diploma from the Academy of Military Science.

Hometown: Naperville, IL

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Assessment in the College of the Arts, Kent State University

Dr. Wendy Matthews

Dr. Wendy K. Matthews is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Assessment and an Associate Professor of Music Education at Kent State University, where she has also served as Director of Bands. She holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, the University of Maryland-College Park, and George Mason University. 

Dr. Matthews is the co-author of Basic Conducting Techniques. Previous to Kent State University, Dr. Matthews taught at Georgetown University, the University of Maryland, George Mason University, Wayne State University, and Northern Virginia Community College. Ensembles under her direction have performed multiple times at Severance Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Millennium State, DAR Constitution Hall, Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall, and the Rachel M. Schlesinger Hall. 

Dr. Matthews is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. Her research interests include music teacher pedagogies, oral histories of pioneering women brass players, and motivation and group dynamics in large ensembles. Her research has been published in journals and book chapters, including the Journal of Research in Music Education, Psychology of Music, and the International Handbook of Music Psychology in Education and the Community. 

Dr. Matthews has presented research, professional development, and historical sessions at national and international conferences, including Symposium on Music Teacher Education, International Society for Music Education, and the National Association for Music Education, as well as numerous state and collegiate conferences including OMEA, TMEA, MMC, PMEA, KMEA, CASMEC, NCMEA, and VMEA.

Hometown:  Hudson, OH