Saturday, January 9, 2027
*Weather Makeup Date Saturday, January 16, 2027 (will only attend if January 9th is cancelled)
Kearney High School
Conductor Bios
Corey LaMon Graves is in nineteenth year in music education and serves as the Director of Bands at Themer Middle School in Forney Independent School District. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Graves served as the Director of Bands at Jackson Middle School (Forney ISD, three years), and Roma Middle School (Roma ISD, eleven years). He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree as a summa cum laude graduate from Stephen F. Austin State University, and earned a Master of Music in Euphonium Performance from The Ohio State University as a graduate fellow.
Mr. Graves is a Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholar. Bands under his direction have consistently received superior sweepstakes ratings at UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest, and have also earned high levels of recognition at both the state and national stage, being recognized as a National and Commended Winner in The Foundation for Music Education National Wind Band contest from 2013-2023. His bands have been consistent state finalists in the Texas Music Educators Association Honor Band Competition, being honored as the 2020 TMEA CC Honor Band. His ensembles have also been invited to perform at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. His Roma Middle School band program is a recipient of the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Silver Cup Award and named a Rio Grande Valley Program of Distinction. Mr. Graves was chosen as Roma ISD’s 2013 Secondary Teacher of the Year, Forney ISD’s Secondary Teacher of the Year in 2023, and named the Phi Beta Mu Texas Young Bandmaster of the Year. He was also named as Yamaha “40 Under 40” Music Teacher of Excellence and a Country Music Awards Music Teacher of Excellence in 2023, 2024, and 2026. He is an active clinician, adjudicator, guest euphoniumist, sits on the Board of Directors for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, is an educational clinician for the Conn-Selmer Division of Education, and maintains professional affiliations with Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, Phi Beta Mu, and Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.
Mr. Graves credits his passion for music to his mother, Brenda M. Moore, his drive for success to his grandmother, Mrs. Vergie Graves, and his love of education to an incredible list of music educators across the country.
Dr. Tim Farrell is a Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska–Kearney, where he teaches applied trumpet, horn, improvisation, and music education courses and directs the Jazz Rock Ensemble. Prior to joining UNK, he taught jazz and brass at the University of South Dakota and Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where he served as Director of Jazz Studies. While at Fort Lewis College, Dr. Farrell founded the Fort Lewis College Jazz Festival in 2000, bringing many of the world’s leading jazz performers and educators to campus to perform with the Fort Lewis College Jazz Ensemble.
Under his direction, jazz ensembles have received superior ratings at several festivals, including the Reno Jazz Festival, Greeley Jazz Festival, Eau Claire Jazz Festival, and the University of Kansas Jazz Festival.
Dr. Farrell is a Yamaha Performing Artist on trumpet and has performed with many outstanding artists throughout his career. He is the author of Sound Artistry: Intermediate Method for Trumpet, published by Alfred Music in 2023, and appears on the Sound Innovations trumpet instructional DVD, also published by Alfred Music in 2010.
Dr. Farrell earned his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Oregon, his Master of Music from Northwestern University, and his Bachelor of Musical Arts from Pacific Lutheran University.
Audition Script and Procedures
Drum Set 1 2 | Bass 1 2 | Guitar 1 2 | Piano 1 2
