Position: Director of Jazz Studies; Artist-in-Residence, Trombone
Location: Armstrong Hall, Room 37
Phone: (703) 732-2639
Email: mniess@su.edu
Employed Since: 1991
Applied Area(s):
Trombone
Conservatory Professional Highlights:
- Performing at the American International Trombone Workshops
- Playing lead trombone for the 2019/20 Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks World Tour visiting England, San Francisco, Japan, Dallas, France, New York, Germany, Australia
- Performing at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago
- Performing in Russia and Cuba with The U.S. Army Band Brass Quintet
- Performing at the Jazz Education Network Conference in St. Louis, Dallas, Atlanta, New York and New Orleans
Ensemble(s):
- Shenandoah Trombone Collective
- Brass Ensemble
- Jazz Ensemble
Educational History:
B.S., West Chester University; M.M., George Mason University; D.M.A., The Catholic University of America
Fields of Expertise:
- Cross-over player
- Brass pedagogy
- Trombone performance
- Trombone ensemble
- Arranging
Personal Quote:I was fortunate to have a career performing for a living. Teaching at Shenandoah Conservatory offers me the opportunity to work with students who have that same dream.
Personal Highlights:
I was a member of The United States Army Band for 30 years performing thousands of times all over the world with outstanding musicians and guest artists.
Recommended Link(s):
The National Jazz Workshop sets a new standard of excellence for students, educators and performers who are serious about learning and mastering the language of the definitive American art form, Jazz. Held on the campus of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, the National Jazz Workshop offers an intensive, fully comprehensive curriculum for jazz studies to include improvisation, big band and small group performance, composition, arranging, jazz history, Macintosh software technology, recording technology and instrumental masterclasses.