Band Info

Hunter Kopczynski serves as Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In this role, he conducts the UNC Charlotte Wind Ensemble, leads the instrumental conducting curriculum, conducts and administers the Charlotte Youth Wind Ensembles, and guides the University Bands program.

An active guest conductor, lecturer, and clinician, Kopczynski has presented at the Midwest Clinic and conducted featured ensembles and shared research at numerous state, regional, and national conferences. He is a frequent clinician and guest conductor nationally and internationally. Passionate about conducting pedagogy and music education, he developed and leads the annual UNC Charlotte Band Directors Workshop and Conducting Symposium. He is an advocate for the expansion and development of the wind repertoire through frequent commissions, collaborations, and premieres. In his research and teaching, Kopczynski is especially interested in the intersection of experience, repertoire, and curriculum to influence ensemble culture.

Kopczynski comes to Charlotte after holding similar positions at Mars Hill University and in the public schools of Virginia. At MHU, he coordinated the band program, conducted the wind symphony, and taught courses in the department of music. Additionally, he served as conductor of the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra. Before his time in Asheville, Kopczynski completed his graduate degrees at Michigan State University, where he held instructional and musical responsibilities with each of the concert and athletic bands and served as a Leadership Fellow in the Graduate School. Additionally, he produced and directed the Musique21 New Music Ensemble and assisted with MSU Opera. Prior to graduate study, he successfully led and developed band programs in Roanoke County and Williamsburg-James City County, Virginia.

Kopczynski earned the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in Wind Conducting from Michigan State University. He also completed a Master of Arts in Education and a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in Music from Virginia Tech. His principal conducting teachers were Kevin L. Sedatole and Travis J. Cross.

Dr. Nicholas Snead currently serves as a School Administrator.  Dr. Snead previously served as an Administrator and Director of Bands at Powhatan High School in Powhatan, Virginia where he oversaw all aspects of the band program, directed the Marching Band, Wind Symphony, Symphonic and Concert Bands, Jazz Band, Concert Open Percussion, Beginning Band, and administered the Indoor Guard and Percussion Programs. Under his direction, all ensembles consistently received Superior ratings at VBODA State Concert Assessment, VBODA Marching Assessment, Jazz festivals, and finalists at AIA and WGI events.

The Powhatan Band Program under the direction of Dr. Snead was awarded the VMEA Blue Ribbon School Award five times, named a Commonwealth of Virginia Honor Band five times, and designated one of the Best Communities for Music Education by NAMM. Dr. Snead has been honored by his peers as Powhatan High School’s Rising Star Award recipient in 2016 and recipient of the PCPS Helping Hands Award. Additionally, Dr. Snead has served as the MLK Community Breakfast Keynote Speaker.

Dr. Snead is a graduate of Longwood University, where he studied saxophone with Dr. Charles Kinzer, played in the Jazz Ensemble, Wind Symphony, sang in the Camerata Singers, and served as Chair of the University Judicial Board. In 2021, Dr. Snead completed the Next Generation Leaders Academy, a program sponsored by the University of Richmond designed for leaders in public education. Dr. Snead holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Doctorate of Education from Virginia Tech.

Dr. Snead is in high demand as an adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor throughout the Mid Atlantic. Dr. Snead holds membership in the Alpha Chi Chapter of Phi Beta Mu, International Band Fraternity, Virginia Music Educators Association, Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, National Band Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Virginia Education Association, Virginia Association for Secondary School Principals, National Association for Secondary School Principals’, Longwood University Performing Arts Council, and the Virginia Marching Band Cooperative where he serves as Treasurer.

     Greg Thomas is an acknowledged leader in Music Education in Virginia. He is a VBODA Hall of Fame Inductee and led one of the state’s most comprehensive and successful High School band programs from 1993-2019.  Mr. Thomas received his Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. He taught for 34 years in the Albemarle County Public Schools and is currently on the Faculty of James Madison University where he conducts the Jazz Band and teaches Instrumental Arranging, Jazz Pedagogy and Improvisation. Under his direction, the Albemarle High School Band was recognized seventeen times by the VBODA as a “Virginia Honor Band.” Mr. Thomas has presented multiple times at the State VMEA conference on the subject of creativity in the instrumental ensemble and is in demand as an adjudicator and clinician around the state. His true pride, however, is his wife of 38 years, Veronica Price-Thomas, and their three children: Price, Lauren, and Carmen.

Amy Stewart has been involved in the marching arts for over 30 years. Most recently, Amy can be found judging marching band and winterguard across the southeast and mid-atlantic. Additionally, she has designed for and taught students at all levels, co-directed a WGI Finalist winterguard, and held leadership roles in performing arts associations. By day, she works as a Human Resources professional and resides in Johnson City, Tennessee.

   William Newton is a Filipino-American percussionist, educator, arranger, and composer. He holds an MM degree in Percussion Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, where he had the privilege of studying with renowned musicians such as Michael Burritt, Chip Ross, Rich Thompson, Shane Shanahan, and Brian Kushmaul. Prior to Eastman, William earned his BM degree from the University of South Carolina under the mentorship of Dr. Scott Herring.

   Currently, William is the Director of Percussion Studies at Radford University, where he leads the award-winning percussion ensemble, teaches private lessons, and directs the pep band. Additionally, he served as the Drumline Coordinator for Shenandoah University’s Marching Band, arranging music and overseeing the drumline's development in its formative years. Outside of academia, William co-founded Wildlight Publications LLC, a publishing company that promotes and supports emerging composers and percussionists. Under his leadership, Wildlight has grown into a dynamic platform for artistic collaboration, offering educational resources, compositions, and projects such as the Lightpost blog and the Set to Fire podcast.

   William maintains an active performance schedule as a member of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, the Amick-Newton Duo, and the Wildlight Collective. He is passionate about expanding the boundaries of contemporary percussion music and continually advocates for works by new and diverse composers such as Nate Werth, JaRon Brown, Paul Lansky, Austin Keck, Ben Hausman, and Emmanuel Sejourne. William has also contributed as a performer to the premiere recordings of Under Strange Stars by John Fitz Rogers, Iunctio by Michael Burritt, Until Flesh is Torn from Bone by Brant Blackard, Azure’s Remoulade by JaRon Brown, Fragmented Shards of Crystallized Water by JaRon Brown, Flora by Savannah Fowler, and Fast Forward by Joseph Schwantner.

Cara Taylor lives in Salem, Virginia with her husband of 20 years and their five children. She has worked with a number of schools across Tennessee and Virginia and now enjoys this season of volunteering and judging. 

As a child, she lived in both Carolinas, Tennessee, and eventually settled in southwest Virginia just before starting at Abingdon High School. She marched colorguard in marching band, played almost all wood wind instruments during concert season, but loved winter guard the most. After high school, she marched with Infiniti  and the Study winter guards. During those seasons, she helped with several schools in the Carolinas and Virginia. 

She experienced a summer with a division III corps which taught her about DCI and then she went on to march with Carolina Crown for 3 years. She still has a love for the marching arts and is constantly amazed at how far each season comes in terms of combined skill, artistry, and talent.