C.G. Conn Invitational Adjudication Panel Announced
Conn Selmer, the world’s premier manufacturer and distributor of musical instruments, will celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the company in 2024 with a special event featuring marching bands from across the Midwest at the C.G. Conn Invitational on September 28, 2024 to be held at Elkhart High School in Elkhart, IN.
USBands is proud to announce the adjudication panel consisting of five nationally recognized adjudicators to evaluate the musical and visual performances of the participating schools in competitive classifications based on the total number of participating students in each band and school size.
Music Panelists
Brian Dinkel (San Dimas, California) has been in demand for over 20 years as a performer, teacher, composer and arranger based in the Southern California area. In that time, he has performed with internationally renowned artists such as Peter Erskine, Alex Acuna, Tom Scott and the late Ed Shaughnessy. Brian attended California State University, Northridge where he studied percussion with John Magnussen, Karen Ervin-Pershing, and Jerry Steinholtz.
Brian has been on the staff of the 21-time DCI World Champion Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps since 2009, and is currently the Front Ensemble and Audio Caption Head and Designer, as well as Director of Front Ensemble programs for BDPA.
Since 2005, Brian has worked at Riverside City College, in Riverside, California. Currently, Brian serves as the Front Ensemble Caption Head and Designer for the internationally renowned RCC Marching Tigers, and as the Music Coordinator and Front Ensemble Arranger for five-time WGI World Champion - RCC Indoor Percussion.
In addition, Brian has had the privilege of teaching and designing for some of the most highly decorated programs in the world - Woodbridge High School, Chino High School, Mission Viejo High School, and many more.
Dave Glyde (Walnut Creek, California) has been an international influence on marching music arranging for several decades. His cutting edge Show Designs and Arrangements for the 21-time World Champion Concord Blue Devils (1992-present) have inspired thousands of performers, fans and aspiring arrangers around the world. In addition Dave has been their Music Director and in-house Music Composer/Arranger (2003-Present). Dave was inducted into the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame in 2023.
Dave was hired by the International Olympic Committee to coordinate and design Opening Ceremonies music for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China and for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Dave's percussion arrangements and technical expertise have led Japan's Soka Renaissance Vanguard to an unprecedented number of National Championships and has also worked with the Brigadiers Drum and Bugle Corps from Syracuse, NY. Other renowned organizations that Dave has worked with and have performed arrangements by him include: The internationally acclaimed Riverside Community College Marching Tigers (1996-2000), the WGI World Class Champion (1993) Clovis West High School Indoor Percussion Ensemble, the DCI Class A champion (2002) The Magic Orlando.
Dave is highly engaged in Writing, Arranging, Program Coordination and Visitation for bands in the United States as well as International locations. His material is published through Arranger's Publishing Company, Sony Music Corporation and he is a member of ASCAP.
Kyle Weirich (Elkhart, Indiana) is in his 31st year of teaching instrumental music in the public school system. He is currently the K-12 Music Coordinator for Elkhart Community Schools and Director of Orchestras at Elkhart High School in Elkhart, Indiana. Since his arrival in 2006, the Elkhart High School Symphony Orchestra has been a regular Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) state finalist. The Symphony Orchestra has also performed at the Indiana Music Education Association (IMEA) Professional Development Conference and twice as a clinic ensemble at The Midwest Clinic. He received Teacher of the Year at Elkhart Central in 2015 and was named the 2019 High School Orchestra Teacher of the Year by the Indiana chapter of the American String Teachers Association. Previously, Weirich earned music education degrees from Western Michigan University and VanderCook College of Music. He also performed with the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps for three seasons. He then served as Director of Bands at Central Noble High School, Knox High School, and East Noble High School, where his groups were consistent ISSMA state finalists. Weirich continues his involvement with the marching arts as a music judge for Bands of America, Drum Corps International, Western Band Association, and various other marching band organizations. He has judged state qualifying and finals events throughout the country. Weirich has also been chosen as a presenter at IMEA Professional Development events.
Visual Panel
Izzy Delgado (Parlin, New Jersey) has been involved in the marching arts for over 25 years. He has been a visual adjudicator since 2003, and has also served as a visual designer, instructor, and clinician. Izzy has adjudicated for several circuits in all genres of the marching arts such as WGI, DCA, MAIN, KIDA, MAPS, USBANDS, MMBA, MAC, AIA, & Cavalcade of Bands. He has had the honor to serve on several championship judging panels. Izzy has also worked in the administrative aspect of the activity, having previously served on the MAIN Executive Board as chairperson of the task force in charge of unit classification where he was instrumental in revamping the circuit's class system.
Izzy is active as a visual designer, program coordinator, and music arranger for several award winning programs in the northeast region. He has been involved with several state champion & Bands of America Regional finalist programs.
Eric Kitchenman (Lansdale, Pennsylvania) has been involved with pageantry his entire life. He began at age five when his father directed a drum and bugle corps in 1964. In 1980 his career began in the movement arts as a marching technician and indoor guard instructor for North Penn H.S. and began his designing career in 1981 at North Penn by writing the marching band, indoor color guard and later the percussion programs. Eric has worked in the drum and bugle corps genre with the Westshoremen Senior drum and bugle corps, The Conquest Alliance from Brighouse in the United Kingdom and has served as in various roles as designer, program coordinator and assistant director for the Crossmen, Velvet Knights, Skyliners, Spirit of Atlanta, Bluecoats, The Cadets, Boston Crusaders and the Reading Buccaneers where the corps achieved two undefeated seasons. Over the years he has designed field shows for numerous high schools across the United States and has designed and consulted for Indoor Color Guard and Indoor Percussion programs. Since 1993 on winter weekends he has worked as an adjudicator for WGI, where he presently continues to serve. Eric is a proud member of the Crossmen, Buccaneer and Keystone Indoor Drill Association Hall of Fame. He is currently employed at USBands.
Mike Kamphuis, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Conn Selmer said in announcing the special events to kick-off and conclude the yearlong 150th Anniversary Celebration, “The C.G. Conn Invitational events are the perfect way for us to mark this momentous occasion by showcasing the talented students of the Midwest region, giving back to our hometown community of employees and their families, while supporting music education in our backyard as a manufacturer of the legendary brands in the music industry including Conn, Selmer, Bach, Ludwig, Musser, and many others.â€
The C.G. Conn Invitational is a unique partnership between the Conn Selmer family of brands, the Elkhart Community Schools and USBands, the largest scholastic music service provider in the nation whose exclusive instrument partner is Conn Selmer.
Elkhart Community Schools will benefit from the C.G. Conn Invitational as a fundraiser for the high school music program with proceeds from the event assisting in generating much needed funds for the current and future growth of the program.
Registration for the 2024 C.G. Conn Invitational is open to all marching bands in the Midwest region for one of the 25 performance slots. The Registration Fee for the event is $250 and the performance order for each participating class will be set by the time-date stamp of the entry.
For more information and details on the 2024 C.G Conn Invitational, please contact [email protected].