Judging Panel
Jeff Bradford - Marching/Music
Mr. Jeff Bradford is a graduate of Texas A&M-Commerce. While attending Commerce, Mr. Bradford played French horn in the marching band, symphonic band, wind ensemble, brass quintet, woodwind quintet, and the North East Texas Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Bradford began his teaching career in February of 2001 at Cooper Jr/Sr High School as a part time band director, with an enrollment of 52 students. Mr. Bradford graduated from Texas A&M-Commerce in May of 2001 and was appointed Director of Bands for the Cooper ISD two days later. Under his direction, the Mighty Maroon Band grew to 160 students in grades 6-12 and was recognized as the top 2A band in the state by winning the 2004 TMEA Honor Band State Championship. The Mighty Maroon Marching Band was a two time State Marching Band participant, finishing 13th in 2001 and 2nd in 2003. The Mighty Maroon also finished top five in the state in 2003 when they competed in the Outstanding Performance Series, and was awarded State Champion in 2004 in the concert selection series. Mr. Bradford was named the Phi Beta Mu Outstanding Young Bandmaster of the Year in 2004, the youngest in the history of Texas. After three straight years of Sweepstakes awards, Mr. Bradford assumed the position of Director of Bands for Sherman ISD in the fall of 2004. Under his direction, the Sherman High School Wind Ensemble was honored by numerous Best in Class finishes, Grand Champion of the Lone Star Invitational, and two straight years of UIL Sweepstakes Awards. The Bearcat Marching Band was named Best in Class at three different festivals and was a 3rd place Bronze Medalist at the 2005 Texas State Marching Band Championships.
Currently, Mr. Bradford serves as Director of Bands for the Lake Highlands High School Band Cluster and Fine Arts Coordinator, in the Richardson ISD. Assuming this position in the summer of 2006, Mr. Bradford has led the Wildcat Marching Band to numerous AREA C Finals appearances, Grand Champion of the Midlothian Marching Festival, and a finalist at every marching contest attended. The Lake Highlands Wind Ensemble has earned three straight years of UIL Sweepstakes awards and has been a competitor in the TMEA honor Band process.
Mr. Bradford is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi, Kappa Alpha Order, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, and Texas Music Adjudicators Association. He has also been named to the prestigious Who’s Who in America’s Teachers for the past 7 years.
Jim McDaniel - Marching/Music
Mr. McDaniel is beginning his 15th year as the Executive Director of Fine Arts for the Carrollton/Farmers Branch ISD. Prior to this position, Mr. McDaniel was a band director for Skyline High School, Bowie High School, Martin High School and Texas A&M University and was selected as the first Supervisor of Fine Arts for Bryan ISD.
Mr. McDaniel’s symphonic bands were consistent Sweepstakes winners in UIL as well as numerous competitions in Texas, Florida, Colorado and Oklahoma. His marching bands were selected 3 times to the Texas State Marching Contest, and his jazz bands won numerous Festivals and performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.
Jim received both his Bachelor and Masters degrees in Music Education from Texas Christian University where he was the graduate assistant to Dr. Jim Jacobsen. He has also received Principal Certification and Supervision Certification from Texas A&M University. Mr. McDaniel is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Music Administrators Conference, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association and Phi Beta Mu National Honorary Bandmasters Fraternity.
McDaniel has served as President of both TMEA Region 5 and 8, President of the Texas Music Administrators Conference and is the current Executive Secretary for UIL Region 24. He has been selected as Teacher of the Year at Martin High School, inducted into the Texas Christian University Band of Fame, and was named the Outstanding Administrator of the year for 2009-2010 by the Texas Music Administrators Conference.
Brian Merrill - Marching/Music
Brian Merrill is starting his fifth year as Adjunct Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Music Education for the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. Before coming to SMU, Mr. Merrill taught for 23 years at Duncanville High School and for 7 years in the Irving ISD. He has Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Music Education from the University of North Texas. Mr. Merrill has twice been recognized with both the Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association and the Leadership and Achievement Award from the Texas Music Educators Association. Under his direction, the Duncanville Honors Band earned twenty one consecutive UIL Sweepstakes Awards and eleven Best in Class Awards at music festivals in Texas, Illinois, Florida, and Washington D.C.
Mr. Merrill served as co-conductor of the Duncanville Wind Ensemble from 1988 to 2006. During this time, the Wind Ensemble was twice named as the TMEA 5A Honor Band and was also presented the Sudler Flag of Honor by the John Phillip Sousa Foundation as a nationally exemplary concert band. The Wind Ensemble performed for the Music Educators National Conference, the Texas Music Educators Convention, the Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic and the All Japan Band Directors Conference. Mr. Merrill also played an integral part on the staff of the Duncanville High School Marching Band. The Marching Band won UIL State Championships in 1986, 1990, and 2002.
Mr. Merrill sits on the Board of Directors of the Texas Bandmasters Association serving as the Immediate Past President. He also belongs to the Texas Music Adjudicators Association and the Texas Music Educators Association and has served as Band Chairman, College Division Chair and Region President for Region Twenty. He is an active adjudicator and clinician and has served as guest conductor for the Metropolitan Winds and the Blast of Brass Ensemble.
Nick Williams- Marching/Music
Dr. Nicholas Enrico Williams is the assistant director of wind studies, conductor of the Concert Band and the director of athletic bands, including the North Texas Green Brigade Marching Band and the Basketball Pep Band at the University of North Texas. He is also the conductor for the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra’s Wind Symphony in Dallas, Texas.
Prior to this assignment at the University of North Texas, Dr. Williams, a multiple-edition honoree of Who’s Who Among America’s Educators, was the director of bands at Clark High School in Plano, Texas. In his last year of public school teaching, he was honored as the Clark High School Teacher of the Year, a Finalist for the Plano ISD Teacher of the Year, and was named a “Ross Perot Excellence in Teaching Award” recipient—an award given to only four secondary teachers annually in the Plano ISD. During his tenure at Clark High School, the band program received consistent sweepstakes awards, and under his baton, the Honors Band was awarded best in class or best in contest in every festival in which the band performed.
Dr. Williams is active in the Drum Corps International activity, where he is currently the brass caption consultant of the Madison Scouts, based in Madison, Wisconsin. He has also taught for Southwind (Lexington, KY), the Boston Crusaders (Boston, MA), and most recently the Santa Clara Vanguard (Santa Clara, CA), where he has served in various capacities ranging from brass instructor to brass caption head/staff coordinator.
As an advocate of chamber music, Dr. Williams was the founder and conductor of the East Plano Brass and was the principal guest conductor for the Harmoniemusik Chamber Ensemble. In the wind band world, he has been a frequent guest conductor with the Dallas Wind Symphony; Lone Star Wind Orchestra; at the annual Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois; the College Band Directors National Association regional conference; and the Texas Music Educators Association Annual Clinic in San Antonio, Texas.
Dr. Williams is active in the United States, Canada and Asia as a clinician, conductor, adjudicator, consultant and arranger; his arrangements for wind band, marching percussion ensembles, drum corps and marching band are performed by outstanding organizations throughout the world.
Dr. Williams is a sought-after recording producer, associate producer, and editor, having been involved with numerous CDs and DVDs on the Klavier, Mark Records, GIA and UNT labels. In addition to his work in the recording arts, he has written several conductor study guides that are published in the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series. His professional affiliations include Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, College Band Directors National Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. In addition, Dr. Williams was recently honored with an invitation to membership into Phi Beta Mu, an international bandmasters fraternity.
Dave Hall - Percussion
Dave Hall is an Adjunct Professor of Percussion at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. Currently, he is pursuing a Doctorate in Percussion Performance at the University of North Texas, where he is a Teaching Fellow. At North Texas he has performed and recorded with the Wind Symphony, Percussion Ensemble, and on vibraphone with the One O’Clock Lab Band. He performs actively in the Dallas/Fort Worth area as a marimba soloist, drumset player, steel pan player, and timpanist, among other things. He has also performed abroad in Spain, Puerto Rico, and at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy. He has played snare drum for the Phantom Regiment and Crossmen drum and bugle corps, the TCU PASIC Champion Indoor Drumline, and the Dallas Mavericks Drumline. In 2007-2008 he instructed and composed for the TCU Marching Band and Indoor Drumline. Mr. Hall appeared as a performer and teacher on the reality TV show “Tommy Lee Goes to College” and has also performed with Motley Crue. Dave is an active composer of percussion music and is published through C. Alan Publications. His work has been commissioned by and performed at various universities and high schools around the country and his percussion quartet Escape Velocity is the title track on TCU’s second percussion ensemble CD. Dave Hall is an educational artist for Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets.
Ted Wemhoff - General Effect
Wemhoff has been involved in the pageantry arts in drum corps, marching band and winter guard for over 25 years as a performer, instructor and judge. Most recently Mr. Wemhoff and his wife were the directors of the Frisco HS Colorguard for Frisco, TX as well as board members of the North Texas Color Guard association. Mr. Wemhoff has been a general effect judge for the Texas Color Guard Circuit judges association since 2001 and a judge for Winter Guard International since 2003.
Doug Henderson - Guard
Doug Henderson is an instructor, designer, and adjudicator with over 20 years of experience in the competitive pageantry activity. He received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science/Economics from Tougaloo College and his Masters of Educational Leadership from the University of Mississippi. Mr. Henderson has performed with a variety of performing ensembles including Florewood Winterguard, Final Analysis Winterguard, and the colorguard of the SkyRyders Drum and Bugle Corps.
Mr. Henderson has taught colorguard for several years all over the United States and served as a clinician for the Eastern Front Auxiliary Camps, Mid-America Music Association, and designed for the State of Mississippi Lion’s Band, as well as several high school and college bands throughout the nation. His career as an adjudicator spans several years and with several organizations including the Texas Color Guard Judges Association where he serves as Vice President of Adjudication, the North Texas Colorguard Association, Florida Federation of Colorguards, South Florida Winterguard Association, Indiana High School Colorguard Association, and Winter Guard International. He currently resides in Frisco, TX, where he is Strategic Consultant with Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. of Dallas, TX.