Conducting Workshop Annual Summit

Lauren Reynolds is Associate Professor of Music, Director of Concert Bands, and Associate Director for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Delaware School of Music, where she serves as conductor of the University of Delaware Wind Ensemble and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting and wind literature. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Master of Music degree in Conducting from the University of Delaware, and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting, cognate in Flute Performance, from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Dr. Reynolds has conducted ensembles from the middle school through professional levels and has served as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the United States. Under her leadership, the University of Delaware Wind Ensemble has participated and led in the commissioning of numerous works for winds and won second place in the 2021 American Prize for Band/Wind Ensemble Performance College/University Division. Their 2019 tour of Spain culminated in an invited performance at the annual Úbeda Festival of Music and Dance, and they were featured performers at the 2020 and 2024 CBDNA Eastern Division Conferences. In 2022 the ensemble was selected to perform at the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) Conference in Prague.

Dr. Reynolds is a past president of the Eastern Division of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA). She resides in Maryland with her husband, a professional bassoonist, and her two children.

Dr. Trae Blanco currently serves as Director of Bands in the School of Music at Butler University. His teaching responsibilities include conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, teaching undergraduate and graduate conducting, and overseeing the band program. Previously, Dr. Blanco has served as  the Director of Bands at Murray State University, and the University of Southern Maine; where he was the conductor of the Portland Youth Wind Ensemble, Casco Bay Wind Symphony, and cover conductor for the Portland (ME) Symphony.

A native New Mexican, Dr. Blanco received his undergraduate degree in music education from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM, a Master of Music in conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he studied with Professor Stephen Pratt, and Doctorate of Musical Arts in Conducting from The Herberger Institute at Arizona State University. Dr. Blanco also served as Director of Bands at Las Cruces High School, where both the jazz ensemble and wind ensemble were selected as Honor Bands for the New Mexico All-State Convention in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

As a clinician, Dr. Blanco has worked with bands and orchestras in Maine, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as presented at state conferences in Maine, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Dr. Blanco served as the conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra for the annual Quad State String Day at Murray State, as well as the Paducah Symphony Summer Music Camp Orchestra in 2019. In summer of 2019, Dr. Blanco was an invited presenter to The Midwest International Clinic, and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Bunol, Spain. He currently serves as a conductor for the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, directing the Symphony Band, and Festival Band for the Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival. Dr. Blanco has served as a leadership clinician to marching bands throughout the country including Texas State University, Murray State University, University of the Incarnate Word, and Pearland High School. In 2023, Dr. Blanco has been invited to conduct the Maine All State Band.

A strong proponent for new music, Dr. Blanco has commissioned new music for winds from Jim (James) Bonney, Steven Bryant, Aaron Perrine, Roshanne Etezady, Onsby Rose, Steve Danyew, James Syler, Jim Stephenson, Brett Kroening, David Dzubay, and others. Dr. Blanco’s research on BCM International has appeared in the National Band Association Journal and the WASBE Journal.

Dr. Blanco was the recipient of the New Mexico Music Educators New and Emerging Teacher Award for 2010. He is currently a member of the Kentucky Music Educators Association, College Band Directors Association, WASBE, NBA, and the Percussive Arts Society. He has continued conducting studies with workshops across the country and in July 2015, Dr. Blanco was a guest conductor with the United States Army “Pershing’s Own” Concert Band in Washington, D.C. In both 2015 and 2016 Dr. Blanco was a finalist in the American Prize in Wind Conducting.  Currently, Dr. Blanco resides in Indianapolis, IN with his wife, Kelsey, and their two children; Ophelia and Ellis.