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Musical Director/ Conductor
Stephen Squires




Stephen Squires is in his third year as Principal Conductor, Professor of Conducting and Chair of the Orchestral Instruments Department in the Music Conservatory at the Chicago College of Performing Arts, Roosevelt University. At CCPA, Mr. Squires conducts the Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. Prior to this appointment, he served on the artist faculty of the School of Music at Northern Illinois University, where he received the "Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching" award. At NIU, Mr. Squires conducted the Philharmonic, Wind Ensemble, and was Music Director of the Opera Workshop.

Mr. Squires received his musical training at the Preparatory School of the Eastman School of Music and the Crane School of Music, in his home state of New York. He earned his masters degree in Instrumental Conducting/Trumpet Performance at California State University, Northridge. He continued conducting study in seminars with Helmuth Rilling, Maurice Abravanel, Daniel Lewis and Tsung Yeh. Mr. Squires has conducted recordings for Delos, Spring Hill (a division of EMI), Centaur, MEDR, and Editions de la Rue Margot, Paris labels.

A conductor active in orchestral, wind, operatic and ballet music, Mr. Squires current professional appointments include; Associate Conductor of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra (Rockford, IL), Principal Guest Conductor of the Millar Brass Ensemble (Evanston, IL) and Conductor of the Salt Creek Ballet (Hinsdale, IL). He is the former Music Director of the Illinois Chamber Symphony. In addition he is an accomplished recital accompanist and freelance trumpeter in the Chicago area.


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Bruce Daugherty Originally from Seattle, Bruce Daugherty came to the Chicago area to attend Northwestern in the late 1980's. He had a B.A. in Education and Performance from Central Washington University and was pursuing a Masters in Trumpet Performance with Vincent Cichowicz. After graduation, Mr. Daugherty played with Illinois Chamber Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic, Illinois Symphony, South Bend Symphony, Elgin Symphony, Lake Forest Symphony and the Lincoln Opera to name a few. As well, he and the group he founded, Horizon Brass Quintet, debuted Catena II for William Karlins. An active freelance performer and recitalist, Bruce along with a consortium of trumpet friends commissioned Tomas Svoboda to compose a new work for trumpet ÒDuo Concerto for trumpet and organ. Mr. Daugherty joined the Millar Brass in the fall of 1991 under the baton of Dr. Bruce Briney. In addition to performing, Mr. Daugherty has a busy teaching schedule. During the summers he was the head of the brass faculty of the Wyoming Seminary Performing Arts Institute. Since 2003 Mr. Daugherty has been the brass coach at the Midwest Young Artists (MYA) summer brass camp. He teaches at the MYA facility during the academic year coaching the chamber brass and sectionals. Since 1997, he has been at New Trier High School (2007 Signature Grammy award recipient school) as the assistant band director, private trumpet instructor and brass coach.


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David Inmon plays trumpet with the Lake Forest Symphony Orchestra, Ars Viva, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Chicago Land Pops Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra.  He plays as an extra/substitute player with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Grant Park Symphony.  He has played on recordings with the Millar Brass Ensemble, Tower Brass, and Mannheim Steamroller as well as commercial recordings for radio and TV.  He graduated from Northwestern University where his teachers were Vincent Cichowicz and Luther Didrickson.


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Kari Lee is a gifted trumpeter whose performing skills and teaching abilities keep her active in the Chicago music scene. Her performing credentials include several concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under such esteemed conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Sir Georg Solti and Valery Gergiev. She has also performed with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. In addition to her local performing activities, Mrs. Lee has performed throughout the United States, Europe and the Soviet Union.

Currently a member of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and the Millar Brass Ensemble, her recording credentials include four compact discs with the Millar Brass Ensemble, ten compact discs for GIA and World Music Library and two compact discs with Christian pop artist, David Phelps.

Mrs. Lee also has extensive teaching experience. She is currently on the faculty at Elmhurst College where she coaches chamber music and teaches in the Preparatory Music Department. She has also taught at Northern Illinois University and College of DuPage.


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Matthew Lee is an active freelance musician in the Chicago area. In addition to his position with the Millar Brass Ensemble he is also a member of the Chicago Brass Quintet and Tower Brass of Chicago. Matt also serves as principal trumpet with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chicago Sinfonietta. He frequently performs for the Joffrey Ballet and as an extra and substitute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony and the Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago.

As a soloist, Lee has performed with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, The Lancaster Festival Orchestra and the Woodstock Mozart Festival. He was the winner of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago's Concerto Competition and performed the Concerto in D by G. P. Telemann in Orchestra Hall. Howard Reich of the Chicago Sun Times praised the performance as "light, bright............a real tour de force." Lee was also a semifinalist in the Maurice André International Solo Competition held in Paris, France and has also been in the final rounds of the New York Concert Artists Guild Competition.

In addition to his active career in Chicago as a performer, Lee teaches at DePaul University and Elmhurst College. Lee attended Western Illinois University, receiving a bachelor of music degree studying with William DeJong. He received his master's degree in performance from Northwestern University studying with Vincent Cichowicz and while a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago he additionally studied with Adolph Herseth.



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Jeremiah Frederick is currently a freelance artist in the Chicago area.  He holds the positions of Associate Principal Horn of the South Bend Symphony and Second horn of the Green Bay Symphony.  In addition, Jeremiah has played with many Chicago-area ensembles including the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Elgin, Lake Forest, and Rockford Symphonies, the Chicago Arts Orchestra and Light Opera Works. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with the Third Coast Brass, Millar Brass Ensemble, and is a founding member of the award-winning wind quintet, Quintet Attacca.  In August of 2001, Jeremiah was awarded third place in the American Horn Competition.  Solo engagements have included performances of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Gordon Jacob’s Concerto For Horn and Strings at Northwestern University.  Jeremiah graduated from Northwestern University in 2000 with a Masters’ Degree in performance and received his BM from Lawrence University.  His teachers have included Gail Williams, Bill Barnewitz, and James DeCorsey.


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Mary Jo Neher, horn, was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska and left the last frontier after high school to pursue her love of music. While working on her BM in Boston Mary Jo had the pleasure of performing with the Boston Philharmonic, Masterworks Chorale, and the New Bedford Symphony. Since moving to Chicago in 1999 she has been an active freelance and chamber musician, performing in the Chicagoland area with, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Concertante di Chicago, The Chicago Chamber Orchestra, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic (Forte Wayne, IN), the Kallima Quintet and PolyKrome Brass.

Mary Jo is a regular member of the Millar Brass Ensemble and is a regular substitute with the South Bend Symphony, Southwest Michigan Symphony, Northwest Indianna Symphony, and the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra. Mary Jo has performed in Miami, Florida with the New World Symphony Orchestra and has toured across Japan with the Pacific Music Festival where she worked with Academy Award winning composer, Tan Dun.

Through her academic endeavors Mary Jo has studied under the guidance of Seth Orgel, Rick Menaul, Eric Ruske, Bill Barnewitz, Gail Williams, Oto Carrillo and Jon Boen. Mary Jo's academic credits include a BM Cum Laude from Boston University, a MM from Northwestern University, and a Certificate of Performance from DePaul University.


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We have an opening in our horn section! Check back soon for updated audition info. Audition tentatively scheduled for late October 2011 


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Matt Monroe has been a proud citizen of Chicago since 2003. He began performing and teaching privately around the area at that time and in 2005 completed a Certificate in Performance degree at Northwestern University. He is currently Second Horn in both the Kalamazoo Symphony and his hometown’s Oregon Ballet Theatre Orchestra in Portland. In addition to Millar, he plays chamber music with the quintet BrassWorks and with C11, an ensemble performing the west coast “cool” jazz of the 50s and 60s. He has played with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Chicago Philharmonic, Chicago Sinfonietta, Elgin Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Oregon Symphony. His other music degrees are from Arizona State and the University of Oregon (where he also trained for his first marathon on trails made famous by running legend Steve Prefontaine). His teachers were William Stalnaker, Thomas Bacon, Ellen Campbell, William Barnewitz, and Gail Williams.


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Robert W. Hoffhines; Tenor/Alto Trombone -A native of Columbus, Ohio Rob Hoffhines was first drawn to the trombone on the occasions when his father would resurrect his old Martin trombone from the basement accompanying Herb Alpert LPs for family entertainment. After studying in Columbus with Richard Howenstine, he was accepted to the College-Conservatory of Music at The University of Cincinnati (which precluded his childhood dream to march with The Ohio State Marching Band a.k.a.TBDBITL). At CCM he studied with Tony Chipurn, Peter Norton and played in the CCM Brass Choir directed by Betty S. Glover. After two years of studies in New York studying with Per Brevig and later Edward Treutel, Rob moved to Chicago to play in The Chicago Civic Orchestra. A member of the MBE since 1995, Rob enjoys an active freelance career in the Chicagoland area. He and his wife, Wendy, a freelance flutist, live in Wilmette with their two girls, Megan Linnea and Elizabeth Anne. Rob is the sole proprietor of the R.W. Hoffhines Rod Co. His handcrafted, split bamboo flyrods are acclaimed by fly fishers and collectors in the US and Japan.


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Molly Kelly has been freelancing in the Chicago area for over ten years. She has worked in a variety of styles, including salsa, samba, chamber and orchestral playing. She is a member of the Lakeside Brass Quintet of Chicago. She has performed with groups including the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony,the Kalamazoo Symphony, Northwest Indiana Symphony, the Key West Symphony, and the Elmhurst Symphony.

Molly currently has a private teaching studio as well as teaching elementary music. She has formerly been on faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago and Elmhurst College. Molly received her degree from Northwestern University, where she studied with Frank Crisafulli.


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John McAllister is a free-lance musician in the Chicago area, performing on a variety of different instruments in a variety of ensembles and musical styles. In addition to the Millar Brass Ensemble, he is a member of the Chicago Sinfonietta (which also performs with the Joffrey Ballet). He has also performed and recorded with the Nashville Symphony, Grant Park Symphony, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Elgin Symphony, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, and in various other orchestras, jazz ensembles, and musical theater productions. In addition to alto, tenor and bass trombones, he also performs on the sackbut, euphonium, and tuba.


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Andy Hoefle holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Vandercook College of Music, a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and advanced degree work in Music Education at Indiana University. His teachers include Harvey Philips, M. Dee Stewart, Robert Bauchens and Forrest l. Buchtel, Sr. He has also performed in the master classes of Dan Perantoni, Keith Brown and Ed Anderson. He currently is the Band Director at South Suburban College. 


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Mark Hoelscher, Bass trombonist, is an Edwards artist/clinician. He frequently performs with groups in the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison areas and is an active teacher and coach. Mark holds a Master’s Degree in trombone performance from Kent State University and an undergraduate degree in trombone from Wichita State University. As a fellowship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival, he performed with the Festival Jazz Ensemble, Chamber Symphony and Festival Orchestra and studied chamber music with American Brass Quintet. He is an active studio musician and has toured nationally and internationally with classical and pops orchestras and touring shows. Since moving to Milwaukee in 1993, he has performed with such groups as the Milwaukee Symphony, Present Music, Elgin Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and the Madison Symphony Orchestra.


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Sean Whitaker currently holds principal tuba positions with the Millar Brass Ensemble, Lake Forest Symphony, and Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. He was acting principal of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra during the 1999-2000 season. As a freelance musician, Sean has performed with the Chicago Philharmonic, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Ars Viva, Chicago Brass Quintet, Chicago Sinfonietta, Northwest Indiana Symphony, and Orquesta Sinfonica UANL (Monterrey, Mexico). Sean moved to Chicago to get his Master of Music in Tuba Performance from Northwestern University. He grew up in Pennsylvania and received his Bachelor of Music from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. His principal teachers have been Rex Martin, Neal Tidwell, Dr. Gary Bird, and Gene Pokorny.


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