San José Wind Conducting Symposium

SAVE THE DATES!  The Annual San José Wind Conducting Symposium is happening July 11-16, 2026!

Join us this summer in the heart of Silicon Valley for the annual San José Wind Conducting Symposium! This workshop is designed for wind band teachers of all levels. It offers participants ample podium time with full wind ensemble and chamber winds in addition to extensive conducting and movement training with world-renowned guest artists and Laban/Bartentieff educators.

We are excited to announce that this year’s chamber wind conducting day will once again take place in the inspiring natural setting of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. This special off-site experience offers participants a rare opportunity to explore chamber wind repertoire and refine their conducting skills among towering redwoods whose tranquil environment enhances focus, deep listening, and artistic clarity. Guided by symposium faculty and supported by chamber musicians, the day blends high-level music-making with the restorative beauty of nature—creating an unforgettable and enriching highlight of the symposium.

Artist Faculty 2027

Dr. Jason Caslor

Born and raised in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, Jason Caslor is currently an associate professor of music and the director of bands at Arizona State University (ASU). In addition to directing the wind ensemble, he also mentors graduate conducting students and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting courses. Recent highlights include the ASU Wind Ensemble’s commercial recordings of Kevin Day’s Concerto for Wind Ensemble and Nicole Piunno’s Sunflower Studies, being a recipient of the Canadian Band Association’s 2022 International Band Award, presenting at the 2024 WASBE Conference (Gwangju, South Korea) and the 2024 Midwest Clinic, and guest conducting the United States Army Field Band.

From 2015-2019, Caslor was an assistant professor and the associate director of bands and orchestras at ASU. Highlights of that time include founding the now firmly established ASU Philharmonia and being nominated for ASU’s Outstanding Master’s Mentor Award. From 2010-2015, Caslor was an assistant professor of instrumental conducting at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada where he conducted the wind ensemble and oversaw the undergraduate and graduate instrumental conducting programs. Prior to that, he spent three seasons as resident conductor with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (TBSO). During his tenure with the TBSO, he conducted more than 75 concerts (including a CBC Radio national broadcast) and recorded a full-length, internationally distributed CD with Canadian blues artist Rita Chiarelli.

A Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician, Caslor has guest conducted or adjudicated in every province in Canada and throughout the United States. In addition to numerous regional engagements, Caslor has conducted the National Youth Band of Canada, the South Dakota All State Band, the South Dakota Intercollegiate Band, and the Alberta Wind Symphony.

A fiercely proud Canadian currently living amongst cacti, Caslor’s co-founding and leadership over the Canadian Band Association’s (CBA) Howard Cable Memorial Prize in Composition lead to him being the recipient of the CBA’s 2022 International Band Award. The award recognizes those individuals who have embraced the ideals of the CBA and have contributed to the promotion, growth and development of the musical, educational and cultural values of Canadian band outside of Canada.

As a researcher, he has presented his work at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the WASBE International Conference, the CBDNA National Conference, the IGEB International Conference on Wind Music, the International Society for Music Education World Conference, and the Riksförbundet Unga Musikanter Wind Band Symposium (Sweden). He has also published numerous articles, most prominently in the Canadian Winds journal.

Caslor completed his doctorate in conducting at Arizona State University. Prior to earning a master’s in conducting from the University of Manitoba, he earned dual bachelor’s in music and education from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Dr. David Vickerman

David Vickerman is Director of Bands, Professor of Music, and Associate Director of the School of Music at San José State University.  In addition to conducting the Wind Ensemble and Disrupt (SJSU's new music ensemble), he teaches undergraduate and graduate instrumental conducting. He is the coauthor, with Alexandra Beller, of The Embodied Conductor: A Somatic Approach with Laban and Bartenieff, forthcoming from Oxford University Press in 2027. Since 2023, Dr. Vickerman has proudly served as the Music and Artistic Director of the San José Wind Symphony, becoming only the third director in the ensemble's rich history since its founding in 1958. In recognition of his contributions to music education and conducting, he received The American Prize in Conducting in 2015, the Outstanding Music Educator Award from CMEA Bay Section in 2023, and the John Swain College/University Music Educator Award from the California Music Educators Association in 2025.

Under his artistic leadership, the SJSU Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at the California All-State Music Education Conference (CASMEC) in 2020 and the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Western/Northwestern Division Conference in 2022. Prior to his appointment at San José State University, he was the Director of Bands at The College of New Jersey, where the Wind Ensemble received invitations to the CBDNA Eastern Division (2014) and National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Eastern Division Conferences (2017). Before joining The College of New Jersey, he held the position of Director of Bands on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus, where he conducted the Wind Ensemble and directed the Pep Band. In addition to his duties at SJSU, he has previously served as the Associate Conductor of Great Noise Ensemble in Washington, D.C., and he is a highly sought-after guest conductor, having conducted numerous honor bands across the country.

A fervent advocate for contemporary music, Dr. Vickerman has commissioned works by eminent composers and conducted multiple premieres, including works by Viet Cuong, Alex Shapiro, Joel Puckett, Holly Harrison, Kevin Day, Armando Bayolo, and many more. He has also arranged several pieces for winds, including Escaramuza by Gabriela Lena Frank, Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble by Philip Glass (published through Wise Music Classical), Ára Batur by the Icelandic rock band, Sigur Rós, Observer in the Magellanic Cloud by Mason Bates, and Craigslistlieder by Gabriel Kahane. 

Dr. Vickerman also regularly presents at regional, national, and international conferences on topics ranging from teaching social justice issues in band and embracing vulnerability in rehearsal and performance to the development of a computer-based conducting analysis system to assist beginning conducting students.  His co-authored paper with Dr. Andrea Salgian, “Computer-Based Tutoring for Conducting Students,” was presented at the International Computer Music Conference in Utrecht, Netherlands, in September 2016. He also presented “Why Should I Care About This Music?: Increase Ensemble Engagement in Rehearsal by Connecting Lived Experiences to the Repertoire” along with Dr. Colleen Sears at the National Association for Music Education Eastern Division Conference in 2017 and at the Midwest Clinic in 2018. 

Dr. Vickerman graduated from the Peabody Institute with a DMA in Wind Conducting in 2014, studying with Dr. Harlan Parker, and a Master’s Degree in Wind Conducting from the University of Oregon in 2010, where he studied with Bob Ponto. Prior to his work at the University of Oregon, he taught high school in California for 6 years after receiving a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education and a teaching credential from California State University Stanislaus in 2002, where he studied conducting with Dr. Edward C. Harris and Dr. Stuart Sims.

Dr. Grant Knox

Grant Knox is a California-based music educator, conductor, and musicologist. Currently, Knox serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Associate Director of Bands/Director of Athletic Bands at San José State University. Knox’s research interests focus on 20th-century African-American composers, interdisciplinary collaboration in wind band performance, sound studies and musical expression in collegiate athletics, and popular music studies. His teaching experience spans various levels, from high school to university, where he has led concert bands, marching bands, and pep bands. Knox has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented on the music of William Grant Still and Ulysses Kay at various national and international conferences. Dr. Knox holds degrees in music education from Murray State University (BM ’18), musicology from the University of Arizona, and conducting from Arizona State University (DMA '25).

Alexandra Beller

Alexandra Beller choreographed “Sense and Sensibility” (Sheen Center, Judson Gym, Folger Shakespeare Library, American Repertory Theater, Portland Center Stage), (Helen Hayes Award, Lortel Nomination, IRNE Best Choreography), the Off Broadway musical, “The Mad Ones” (59E59), Bedlam’s “Peter Pan” (Duke Theater), “Two Gentlemen of Verona” (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), “As You Like It” (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Folger Shakespeare Library), “How to transcend a happy marriage” by Sarah Ruhl (Lincoln Center Theater), “Pride and Prejudice (Dorset Theater Festival, Actor’s Shakespeare Project), “Antonio’s Song” (CATF, Milwaukee Rep, Goodman), “Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes)” (La MaMa/La Jolla/touring), Directing/Choreographing “Make Thick My Blood,” a two-person adaptation of Macbeth (Theater Row), and A Midsummer NIght’s Dream (Folger Shakespeare Library at The National Building Museum, DC). 

Her international performance career includes 7 years with the Bill. T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, projects with Martha Clarke, John Turturro, and others. Alexandra Beller/Dances formed in 2001 and she has created over 40 original Dance Theater works, for her own and other companies. Her choreography has been presented at theaters throughout the US and in Korea, Hong Kong, Oslo, Cyprus, St. Petersburg, and Poland.

Alexandra holds a BFA/Dance (University of MI), MFA/Dance (University of WI at Milwaukee), and CMA (Certified Movement Analyst) in Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals (LIMS).  She is on faculty at Princeton University, Rutgers University, and The Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies, and guest teaches nationally and internationally. 

Upcoming projects include “Let The Right One In” at Boston University with Actor’s Shakespeare Project, “Antonio’s Song” at The Goodman (Chicago), a workshop of “Perfect World” (Director: Karen Carpenter), and a devised adaptation of “Waiting for Godot” (Alexandra Beller/Dances).

She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and two kids, is writing a book, studying guitar and is currently training in Intimacy Direction with TIE.

Costs/Offerings

There are three levels of participation for SJWCS.  You can read more about each level below:

• Participant (18 spots)

• Observer (unlimited)

• Undergraduate Fellowship (4 spots)

All three levels above include:

• access to conducting observation in both wind ensemble and chamber wind sessions
• movement classes
• lecture/discussion sessions
• SJWCS Commemorative Totebag

PARTICIPANT = $750 (18 spots)

• 4 podium experiences (3 with symposium wind band, 1 with chamber winds)
• Feedback from our symposium artist faculty
• Video footage of your conducting

OBSERVER = $150 (Unlimited spots)
Conducting Workshop observation.  Observers are expected to perform on their primary instrument during the workshop.

UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIP = $250
This program will enable up to TWO undergraduate student conductors to attend at a significantly reduced cost. This will provide an introduction to the conducting workshop experience and invaluable opportunities to network with more experienced teachers.

Undergraduate Fellowship Participants will receive:

• 1 podium experience: conducting the chamber winds

Students interested in this program should ask their college band director or conducting teacher if they would be willing to be a reference. Once this is confirmed, email Dr. David Vickerman with an email expressing your interest and include the name, position and phone contact information for your reference. Applications will be reviewed on the same timeline as the other complete applications.

Mike Moss Conducting Study Grants (CBDNA)

These grants offer conductors from underrepresented populations the opportunity for professional development through participation in a summer symposium. The San José Wind Conducting Symposium is a participating workshop.  Apply Here

Registration for the Symposium

2027 Registration Form - COMING SOON

Deadlines:

• Participant Level: March 1, 2027 
• Observer Level: July 1, 2027

Professional Development Credit

For teachers who are interested in registering for professional development credit, there will be a one-unit course available.  More information on registration will be posted soon!

Housing

On Campus

SJSU Summer Guest Housing Information

Off Campus

San José Downtown Information
San Jose AirBnBs
*check location of hotels or homes before booking.  San José is a very large metropolitan area!

Getting Around

San Jose VTA Light Rail Map [pdf]
If you plan to stay off campus, you may be able to find a hotel or B&B near a light rail stop.  If so, you can use VTA Light Rail to get to SJSU easily.

2027 Repertoire

Wind Ensemble

• TBD

Chamber Winds

• TBD

Questions?

Please email, conducting SJSU Bands graduate assistant: Dillon Braisher