UNF Wind Band Workshop

Meet Our Clinicians

• Dr. Erin Bodnar
  

  Dr. Erin Bodnar is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at the University of North Florida where she conducts the Wind Symphony and Concert Band, instructs courses in conducting and coordinates the UNF Conducting Symposium. Under Dr. Bodnar’s baton, the UNF Wind Symphony performed at the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Buñol, Spain in July 2019. The UNF NuMIX, co-directed by Dr. Bodnar and Dr. Venet, performed at the College Band Directors National Association Southern Division Conference in February, 2022. Prior to her appointment at UNF, Dr. Bodnar was Director of Bands at Graceland University for four years during which time the Symphonic Band performed at the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference. During 2013-2014, Dr. Bodnar was the conductor of the Wind Symphony and Orchestra at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Bodnar maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor and clinician, traveling to Argentina, Thailand, Indonesia, and throughout the United States and Canada. Dr. Bodnar has contributed to A Composer's Insight: Thoughts, Analysis and Commentary on Contemporary Masterpieces for Wind Band, Volume 5, the GIA Teaching Music Through Performance Series for Volume 7 and the revised Volume 1. She excelled at teaching both middle and high school band in Alberta, Canada for which she received the Keith Mann Young Band Director’s Award and the Edwin Parr First Year Teacher Award. Dr. Bodnar has presented at conferences in Canada, the United States, Scotland, Thailand and Austria. Her research interests include conducting pedagogy and motor cognition, and her articles have been published in the Journal of Music Teacher Education and Music Perception. An avid runner and group fitness instructor, Dr. Bodnar has completed 54 marathons, including 6 Boston marathons, ten 50 km races and one 100 km race.

• Dr. Timothy Groulx
  

  Dr. Timothy J. Groulx is Professor of Music Education and Music Education Area Coordinator at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida since 2014. A native of Punta Gorda, Florida, he earned his Ph.D. in music education from the University of South Florida in 2010 where he was recipient of the Presidential Fellowship, and earned his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Teaching from Oberlin Conservatory in 1999.

  He is active in the music education community as an adjudicator, guest conductor, and clinician. Prior to coming to UNF, he taught at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana from 2010-2014. He was teaching fellow at the University of South Florida from 2006-2010, and from 1999-2010 he taught band and orchestra programs in central Ohio and in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.

  He has published research in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Contributions to Music Education, Journal of Band Research, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Music Education Research International, Update!, and Research Perspectives in Music Education. He serves on the advisory committee for the International Journal of Music Education, Music Educators Journal, and Research Perspectives in Music Education. He has presented at research and in-service conferences throughout the United States as well as in Austria, the United Kingdom, Spain, Finland, Australia, and New Zealand. His research interests include history and sociology of music education, particularly issues regarding race and school segregation, cultural representation in band literature.

  He has developed the Sound Before Symbols method for instrumental music education that focuses on student creativity and expression prior to music reading which he has presented at the Midwest Clinic, National Association for Music Education National and Regional Conferences, at the International Society for Music Education conference, at several state music educators association conferences, and hosts regular workshops for professional development. 

  Dr. Groulx's book, Music Education at Oberlin Conservatory was published by Bloomsbury in 2026. 

• Dr. Kristen Zelenak
  

  Dr. Kristen Zelenak is currently a Visiting Instructor at the University of North Florida. She teaches the UNF Concert Band, “Sound of the Sky” Osprey Pep Band, and applied conducting lessons for graduate and undergraduate students.

   Zelenak is an active educator, conductor, and chamber musician from New Baltimore, Michigan. She maintains an active schedule as a concert and marching band clinician and adjudicator. Along with her conducting endeavors, she also performs with her saxophone/piano duo, ZelenArch.

  Her favorite projects include commissioning new works from composers of “non classical” spheres. Her debut saxophone album Taking Flight is set to release this fall and it features composers Annie Booth, Ayn Inserto, Katelyn Vincent, Aida De Moya, Yoko Suzuki, and Sam Spear. As a continuation of the project, she is leading a consortium with Annie Booth for a new work for concert band in Spring 2025.

  Prior to her appointment at UNF, she was the Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. She received her DMA in Saxophone Performance and MM in Wind Band Conducting from Arizona State University. Her MM in Saxophone Performance from Michigan State University and her BME at Central Michigan University. Her teachers include Jason Caslor, Christopher Creviston, Joseph Lulloff, and John Nichol. Prior to finishing her advanced degrees, she taught middle school band in Huntsville, TX.

• Dr. Matthew McCutchen, Guest Clinician
  

  Dr. Matthew McCutchen has served on USF’s Music Faculty since 2009, first as the Director of Athletic Bands for nine years, and then as the Director of Bands since 2018. His responsibilities at USF include conducting the wind ensemble and teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting, wind band literature, and music education. In addition, he serves as the Associate Director of the School of Music.
  
  Dr. McCutchen earned a Ph.D in Music Education with an emphasis in Instrumental Conducting from Florida State University, a Master of Music in Conducting from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Furman University. Prior to coming to USF he taught middle school in Georgia, high school in Virginia, and served as an adjunct instructor at Virginia Commonwealth University for several semesters.
  
  He is active throughout the country as a guest conductor and clinician. He is the artistic director and conductor of the Florida Wind Band, and the founder and conductor of the Bay Area Youth (BAY) Winds, which features many of the finest high school musicians throughout the Tampa Area. He has been published in several issues of the National Band Association’s Journal, the 7th and 8th and the “Solos with Wind Band Accompaniment” editions of the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, The Instrumentalist magazine, the Florida Music Director, and other state publications. He is the chair of the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest Committee, a member of the John Philip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor selection committee, and holds memberships in numerous national and statewide professional organizations. In 2022 he became an elected member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association.