Anthony Barfield is an active Composer, Teacher and Audio Engineer. Mr. Barfield quickly emerged as a composer upon his arrival to New York City. Recognized for his lyrical writing style, his compositions have been performed throughout the United States and Europe. As an up and coming Wind Band composer, Mr. Barfield has received commissions from groups such as The University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble and trombonists including Joseph Alessi, Principal Trombonist of the New York Philharmonic. He made his Carnegie Hall debut at the 2012 New York Wind Band Festival where his work "Here We Rest" was performed. His work for trombone choir, Reflections (ASCAP), was premiered at the 2008 Alessi Seminar in Fossano, Italy. He has written works for groups including the University of Scranton Singers, Baldwin Wind Symphony, and the Juilliard Trombone Choir. Mr. Barfield has studied composition with C.P. First, Avner Dorman, Thomas Cabaniss, and Nils Vigeland. As a former trombonist, he has performed with numerous groups throughout the Northeast and has performed frequently in venues including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Dizzy's Coca Cola Club, Alice Tully Hall, and the Kennedy Center. Mr. Barfield is an Audio Engineer at The Juilliard School. Mr. Barfield is formerly a Teaching Artist for Grammy-awardwinning producer Phil Ramone's Children's Orchestra and a member of the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra in Philadelphia. He has performed with, The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon and Friends, Alabama Symphony, Mobile Symphony, and Park Avenue Chamber Symphony. As a trombonist Mr. Barfield can be heard on recordings including Donnie McClurkin's We Are All One (Live), Demondrae Thurman's Soliloquies with the University Of Alabama Wind Ensemble, Lisa McClendon's Live at The House of Blues, Weston Sprott's Act I, and other commercial albums.  Mr. Barfield holds degrees in trombone performance from the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Barfield's primary trombone instructors include Dan Drill, Jay Evans, Joseph Alessi, Per Brevig, and Michael Powell with additional studies with Demondrae Thurman and John Faieta. www.anthonybarfield.com Bradley Kerns recently joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky in the spring of 2011. He maintains a versatile performing and teaching schedule and is a Grammy-nominated recording artist. As a trombonist, Brad has performed on multiple occasions at the Eastern Trombone Workshop, the International Trombone Festival, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Great American Brass Band Festival, and the Jazz Education Network Conference. He has appeared with an extensive variety of musical groups such as the Temptations, the Synergy Brass Quintet, the Momus and New England Trombone Quartets, the Piedmont Trombone Society, the New England Brass Band, the Broadway touring production of Chicago, and ALEA III New Music Ensemble to name a few. He currently can be heard as split lead/solo trombone in the DiMartino/Osland Jazz Orchestra and the Kentucky Jazz Repertory Orchestra, principal trombone in the Lexington Brass Band, as well as trombonist in the nationally-based Brass Initiative Ensemble and the University of Kentucky Faculty Brass Quintet. As an educator, Brad has taught trombone at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Asbury University, and the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, as well as served as Director of Bands within the Catholic Diocese of Lexington. Brad has been involved in nearly twenty recording projects under multiple recording labels including his recently released solo recording, Rising Sun, which is largely a collection of new arrangements, transcriptions, and contemporary works for trombone. He can also be heard on the Momus Trombone Quartets debut album, The Lexingport Project, which remains one of the top-selling trombone quartet albums in the world. As a soloist, Brad recently gave the Kentucky premiere of John Mackey’s Harvest: Concerto for Trombone with the University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble in the fall of 2011. The spring of 2012 included solo performances at the KMEA, TMEA and JEN Conferences. He will be premiering a commissioned new work by Anthony Barfield entitled Red Sky with the University of Kentucky Wind Symphony in the fall of 2012, as well as a premiere of Raleigh Dailey’s Conversations for Trombone and Piano at the 2013 Eastern Trombone Workshop. Professor Kerns received a Bachelor of Music Education Degree from the University of Kentucky while studying with Dale Warren and a Master of Music Degree from Boston University while studying with Scott Hartman. Brad is an S.E. Shires and Pickett Brass Performing Artist. He currently resides in Nicholasville, Kentucky with his wife, Katie, their two sons, Charley and Simon, and an overly-energetic Australian Shepherd, Sydney. http://www.bradleykerns.com Dr. John Cody Birdwell is Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Kentucky, where his duties include conducting the University of Kentucky Wind Symphony, directing graduate programs in wind-band conducting, teaching graduate courses in instrumental conducting, history and literature, and supervising the administration of the University of Kentucky band program in the School of Music. Prior to his appointment at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Birdwell served as Director of Bands at Texas Tech University (1998-2004), Director of Bands at Utah State University (1994-1998), Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Illinois (1989 – 1994), and Director of Bands at Northern Michigan University (1987-1989). Dr. Birdwell's ensembles have toured extensively throughout the United States, China, and Great Britain, and the University of Kentucky Wind Symphony was recently selected to perform at the 2013 National Convention of the College Band Directors National Association. Under Birdwell’s direction, the UK Wind Symphony has performed a various regional and national conventions, including the 2010 CBDNA Southern Division Conference at the University of Mississippi, the 2006 CBDNA Southern Division Conference at Vanderbilt University, and the 2006 Kentucky Music Educators Association Convention in Louisville. In 2008 the UK Wind Symphony toured the People’s Republic of China, and performed to capacity audiences in the cities of Suzhou, Yangzhou, Changzhou, and Beijing. Ensembles under Dr. Birdwell's direction have also performed for the National Convention, Southwest Division Convention, and Western Division CBDNA conferences, and have also performed for the Texas Music Educators Convention, the Texas Bandmaster's Association Convention, and the Utah Music Educators Association. Birdwell has commissioned and premiered works by a variety of celebrated composers including Dan Welcher, Donald Grantham, John Mackey, Bob Mintzer, Mike Mower, and Adam Gorb. Several compact discs, including the University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble “Distilled in Kentucky – Premieres from the Bluegrass State”, and “GO! – The Music of Bob Mintzer”, along with the Texas Tech University Symphonic Wind Ensemble “LIVE!" and “Diversions” have received acclaim from composers and conductors throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Birdwell is a native of New Mexico, and holds degrees from The University of North Texas (DMA), and West Texas A&M University (MA, BME). While at North Texas, Birdwell was inducted into "Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities", and was a recipient of the Pi Kappa Lambda Class Honor Award for Outstanding Doctoral Student in the College of Music. Dr. Birdwell serves as Vice President of the College Band Directors National Association Southern Division, and served as Chair of the National Band Association Selective Music List Committee. Dr. Birdwell holds memberships in the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, Kentucky Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, Kappa Kappa Psi and Phi Mu Alpha. He remains active as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States and abroad. http://finearts.uky.edu/faculty/music/john-cody-birdwell