2026 OMEA Professional Development Conference
Columbus, OH

January 30, 2026
CC Union Station Ballroom
8:00 pm

Music Selections

  • Katahj Copley

    Rooted from hip hop and jazz culture, AYO is built in the black language. It's used to tell when something is right, when something is wrong, when something is awesome, and when something is too sweet for words. It's use is seen with your closest people, your family, or people who know you best. It's personal. In short "AYO" is a personal embrace that can represents life.

    Full Program Notes ➤

  • Nicole Piunno

    I visited the Columbus Museum of Art and met a work titled “Blow Up #1” by Ori Gersht. This work captured my attention and insisted I give it a great amount of thought. Gersht used high-speed photography to capture a moment in time of an arrangement of flowers exploding. In that one short moment Gersht captured a profound truth about this world and the human condition.

    Full Program Notes ➤

  • John Philip Sousa

    “The Picador” was one of several marches sold outright to the publisher, Harry Coleman, for $35 each. That sum included arrangements for band, orchestra, and piano. The frontispiece of the original sheet music depicts a bullfight scene with a picador in action.

    Full Program Notes ➤

  • Comic Book Suite for Winds & Percussion
    Michael Martin

    i. Prologue - “Peace No More”
    ii. “Versus”

    Spencer Navin, Soprano Saxophone
    Gabe Smith, Soprano Saxophone

    From ancient scripture to modern literature, the theme of the hero and the villain, good versus evil, the clash of right and wrong is always present. Our two musical entities are immediately recognizable in this awesome, Elfmanesque soundtrack.

    Full Program Notes ➤

  • Aaron Perrine

    The melodic material for Only Light originally came from Beneath a Canvas of Green, a large-scale work of mine written for wind ensemble. At the time, I was not quite comfortable with how this music fit within the larger work—it passed by much too quickly—and I knew it was something I would eventually like to revisit.

    Full Program Notes ➤

  • J. Scott McKenzie

    ​When asked to write a piece for a high school honor band my first inclination was to write something challenging but fun.  My first sketches for the piece were comprised mainly of blues scales and dance rhythms.  After a while, I began to realize that the music sounded very much like something Bela Fleck and the Flecktones would play. 

    Full Program Notes ➤

Our Conductors

Alex Brough
Director

James DeFrancesco
Director

Our Musicians

Welcome & Acknowledgements

About Us

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