Meet Our Conductor

Curt Ebersole continues his second full season as Conductor/Music Director of the West¬chester Symphonic Winds with this second concert of our 22nd season. A former member of the ensemble, Mr. Ebersole played principal clarinet during the band’s second season in 1989-90. Based on information supplied in the 10th anniversary concert program, Mr. Ebersole was the first soloist to play with the group, perform¬ing Alfred Reed’s Rahoon for clarinet and wind ensemble with founding conductor, James D. Wayne.

      Mr. Ebersole received a Bachelor of Music Education degree and a Master of Music in Conducting degree from Northwestern University, where he studied conducting with John P. Paynter and clarinet with Larry Combs, and a Master of Fine Arts in Clarinet Performance from SUNY-Purchase, where he studied with Ben Armato. He has taught and administered the instrumental music program at Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan since 1982, where he conducts the Wind Symphony, Concert Band, String Ensemble, and Marching Band, and acts as Producer and Conductor of the award-winning musical theater program. His ensembles have earned top ratings in music festivals and exchange concerts in eight states, two Canadian provinces, and the Bahamas.

      He has served as a guest conductor and clini¬cian for many honor bands and adult community ensembles in New Jersey, New York, and Maine, including the Bergen, Rockland, and Orange All-County Bands, the Ridgewood Concert Band, the Orange County Music Educators Wind Ensemble, the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, the North Jersey Region I Junior Band, the North Jersey Region I Symphonic Band, and as rehearsal conductor for the North Jersey Region I Wind Ensemble. He is the founder and coordinator of the Music Educators of Bergen County Wind Conducting Symposium. In 2009 he appeared as guest con¬ductor with the Boystown Symphony Orchestra in Busan, South Korea. As a clarinetist, he per¬forms regularly as a chamber musician, band & orchestral player, and basset hornist.

      Mr. Ebersole was selected as the Northern Valley District Teacher of the Year in 1994 and the Bergen County Teacher of the Year in 1995. The Mayor and Council of Old Tappan honored him for twenty years of service to the community in 2002. The New Jersey Music Educators Association chose him as the recipient of the 2003 New Jersey Master Music Teacher Award, and he received a Governor’s Award in Arts Education in May, 2003. In 2009 he was the Northern Valley-Old Tappan recipient of the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher Recognition Award. In July, 2009 Mr. Ebersole was awarded a scholarship to travel to South Korea as part of a cultural exchange program sponsored by Sejong Cultural Empowerment, Inc.

      His professional memberships include MENC, the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the International Clarinet Association, and Pi Kappa Lambda. He has served in various capacities for several professional music organizations in New Jersey.

      Mr. Ebersole is a resident of White Plains, New York, and in his spare time he enjoys photography, cycling, downhill skiing, and riding America’s fastest and tallest roller coasters.