Saturday, February 1, 2025
Mark your calendars for the UT Conducting Workshop! We will welcome MICHAEL HAITHCOCK, retired Director of Bands at the University of Michigan, alongside John Zastoupil, Michael Stewart, and Fuller Lyon of the University of Tennessee for a fulfilling day of collaborative music making, personal growth, and friendship! The workshop takes place in the Haslam Music Center on the beautiful campus of the University of Tennessee.
Registration opens November 1, 2025. A live link will be posted on this website.
If you have any questions, please can contact John Zastoupil at jzastoup@utk.edu.
Workshop Registration Details/Fees:
- Participant: $150
- Participating conductors receive podium time with each ensemble and coaching by our clinicians
- Achieve professional development hours
- Observer: $50
- Student (non-UT) Observer: $25
Repertoire (one selection per ensemble):
Wind Ensemble: Turina – La Procession du Rocio, Faure – Chant Funeraire, TBA
Symphonic Band: Holst – First Suite, Grainger – Children’s March, Tchesnekoff – Salvation is Created
Schedule:
7:45am Registration / Continental Breakfast
8:00am Welcome
8:05am Morning “Tune Up”
8:30am Conducting Session I w/ UT Wind Symphony
12:15pm Lunch (provided)
1:00pm Presentation by Michael Haithcock
1:45pm BREAK
2:00pm Conducting Session II w/ UT Wind Ensemble
5:15pm Wrap-Up
5:30pm Dinner/Social
Featured Clinician
MICHAEL HAITHCOCK retired from his duties as director of bands and professor of music (Conducting) at the University of Michigan in May of 2023 after twenty-two years of distinguished leadership which followed his twenty-three years at Baylor University. Following in the footsteps of William D. Revelli and H. Robert Reynolds, Professor Haithcock conducted the internationally renowned University of Michigan Symphony Band, guided the acclaimed band and wind ensemble graduate conducting program, and provided administrative leadership for all aspects of the University of Michigan’s diverse and historic band program. In February of 2012, he was named an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor by the University of Michigan which is the University’s highest award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. He is the primary author of the Elements of Expressive Conducting, a widely adapted textbook for conducting classes.
Ensembles under Haithcock’s guidance received a wide array of critical acclaim for their high artistic standards of performance and repertoire. These accolades have come through concert reviews at national and state conventions, performances in major concert venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York City, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and a variety of performances presented during the Symphony Band’s May 2011 tour of China, as well as recordings on the Albany, Arsis, and Equilibrium labels. Reviews of the ten commercial CD’s he recorded with the U-M Symphony Band stated, “programming and execution of this caliber ought to be available worldwide…musically impressive, giving a sense of elation.” The American Record Guide praised the “professional manner with which the group delivers…they show great skill and artistry” and proclaimed the “sound of the U-M Symphony Band is something to savor.” The University of Michigan Symphony Band’s YouTube channel is also a highly acclaimed resource for bands around the world as well as an important archive of his artistic accomplishments while director of bands at U-M.
Throughout his career, Professor Haithcock has been a leader in commissioning and premiering new works for band and has earned the praise of both composers and conductors for his innovative approaches to developing the band repertoire as well as his interpretations of new and standard works. He is in constant demand as a guest conductor with professional ensembles, major universities, all-state, and festival ensembles. He is also a resource person for conducting symposiums and workshops in a variety of instructional settings.
A graduate of East Carolina University, where he received the 1996 Outstanding Alumni Award from the School of Music, and Baylor University, Haithcock has done additional study at a variety of conducting workshops including the Herbert Blomstedt Orchestral Conducting Institute. The Instrumentalist, the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, The School Musician, the Southwest Music Educator, and Winds Magazine have published his articles on conducting and wind literature.
Professor Haithcock is an elected member of both the music honor society Pi Kappa Lambda and the American Bandmasters Association. He remains active in the College Band Directors National Association following his term as president (2001–2003) and was given the organizations Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021. In 2011, he was awarded the Distinguished Service to Music Medal by Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity.