Serena Weren is the Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Illinois Chicago. She earned her DMA in wind band conducting from Arizona State University under the direction of Gary W. Hill and Wayne Bailey. She also holds a BA in music and geology from Franklin & Marshall College, a BM in music education from Temple University, and a MM in instrumental conducting and a MMEd both from Arkansas State University. Previously, she was the Director of Bands at Loyola University New Orleans, as well as Middletown High School South and River Plaza Elementary School in New Jersey. Dr. Weren is an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator and has worked with notable organizations such as the Brooklyn Wind Symphony, the Acadian Wind Symphony, the Mid-Europe Festival in Austria, and the first National Marching Band Camp in Guatemala. Her current research interests include investigating our social and physiological relationship to music making, especially in the ensemble setting, and furthering health and wellness knowledge and advocacy for musicians. 

Cory Meals (Music Education) teaches undergraduate courses in secondary instrumental music education focusing on band and graduate courses in music education research. A native of northwestern Pennsylvania, he earned his Bachelor of Music Education from VanderCook College of Music, a Masters of Music in Wind Conducting from the University of Houston, and a Doctorate in Music Education from the University of Washington.

Dr. Meals’ research interests include ensemble conducting, perception and cognition of gesture in music, music and human learning, individual and ensemble instrument pedagogy, sociocultural interaction within music ensembles, and preservice teacher preparation. His work has been published in several journals include Frontiers in Psychology and he has presented at research and professional development conferences across North America, Asia, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

He previously served as Assistant Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music Education at Kennesaw State University (GA), and additionally served as a public-school band director in the Waller (TX), Klein (TX), and Keller (TX) school districts. He has an established history in the marching arts, both as an instructor for numerous groups including The Cavaliers, Santa Clara Vanguard, and the Boston Crusaders and as a visual designer for groups across North America.

He is an active clinician in schools across Texas and is keenly interested in the cross-pollination of research and practice within instrumental music education.

Nicholas J. Carlson serves as Music Director and Conductor of the University Wind Ensemble at the University of Chicago. He also serves as Senior Lecturer and Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Illinois Chicago. Carlson earned a Master of Music degree in instrumental conducting and clarinet performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and a Bachelor of Science degree in music education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Mr. Carlson is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Band Conducting at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

Carlson is an active clinician, guest conductor, and performer. He serves on the musical staff for the World Youth Wind Orchestra Program at the Mid-Europe Festival in Austria and on the boards of New Music Chicago and Symphony847. Carlson is the principal clarinetist of the Lake County Symphony Orchestra and has previously performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Skylight Opera, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Wind Orchestra, and the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra.