Mark Allred has been playing Trumpet for over 45 years. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Texas with additional studies in Music Education at the University of Arizona. After school Mark spent 15 years as a freelance player and horn section arranger in the San Francisco Bay area. Notable moments include opening for James Brown, many national anthem performances at S.F. Giants games and playing in the Beach Blanket Babylon theater pit. Relocating to Montgomery County in 1998, he began teaching and freelance playing in the area while raising his two sons. Mark has had hundreds of trumpet students. Many students have been placed in local, state and national honor groups. Some have gone on to study music at the university level. Mark has many former students who are now adults and are active musically.

Mike Davis has been playing trumpet for over 50 years. In 1976, he earned his BA in Music from the University of North Texas. During his career, he has played with many groups such as Joe Frazier and The Knockouts, the Afro-Cubans (or The Machito Latin Jazz Band), The Mingus Big Band, Gerry Mulligan and His Orchestra, Dallas Jazz Orchestra, and more. He toured with many of these bands to play in Las Vegas, New York City, England, Wales, Ireland, Switzerland and Washington D.C. You can hear him play on albums such as “Me, Myself, and Eye” and “Something Like a Bird” by The Mingus Big Band, as well as “Walk on the Water” by Gerry Mulligan and His Orchestra. Currently he is the lead trumpet with the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra.

Noreen Friedman earned her BA (Music-flute performance) from UCLA, where she studied with Sheridon Stokes, and an MBA from Pepperdine University. She has participated in workshops for alto & bass flute with Dr. Christine Potter and klezmer flute with Adrianne Greenbaum. After an aerospace/defense career in international business, contracts, market research and strategic planning, Noreen is actively engaged in flute performance and teaching, free-lance writing and grant research for the nonprofit sector. Noreen performs with guitarist Bob Wysong as the Friedman-Wysong Duo, focused on music arranged, adapted and inspired by international folk traditions. Highlighting new music, the Duo has performed at the Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention and International Low Flute Festival. Noreen performs with various groups including: the J2N2 Project low flute quartet, the Rockville, Olney and Maryland Band Directors Bands, the DC Strings Orchestra, local flute choirs Flutes on the Brink and Lower Realm, L.A.-based Song of the Angels (SOA) Flute Orchestra, and the Metropolitan Flute Festival Orchestra at New England Conservatory. Noreen is a member of the Advisory Board for the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras (MCYO) at Strathmore and an active participant in Relay for Life (American Cancer Society).

Jeff Johns grew up in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, located near Pittsburgh. He started playing trombone in 4th grade, picked up Tuba in 6th grade and continued playing both through high school. Graduating from Jeannette High School in 2000, he attended West Virginia University where he earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education in 2004. In 2011-2013, Jeff attended the American Band College of Sam Houston State University where he earned a Master of Music with a concentration in Wind Band Conducting & Pedagogy. In 2004, Jeff began his teaching career with MCPS as assistant band & orchestra director at Walter Johnson High School. In 2005 he became director of instrumental music at Northwood High School where he continued until spring of 2013. Later in 2013, Jeff began at Farquhar Middle School where he continues teaching. When not performing or teaching at FMS, Jeff teaches private students on Trombone, Euphonium, and Tuba.

James Bazen moved to the D.C. area in 1985 after completing graduate music studies at DePaul University in Chicago. He is a woodwind specialist as well as a composer and producer. During his career he has played clubs and concerts across the country including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. James has played with the Greensboro Symphony, The Go-Go Symphony and various orchestra pits. He has been a clinician at Georgetown University. In addition to performing, James has worked as a producer for many local bands and ensembles. The latest of which is The Great Noise Ensemble, the orchestra in residence at DC’s Atlas Theater. James has released 1 quintet and 3 big band CD’s: Stranger Things 1992, Tonight He’s Mine 1997, Merry Christmas Take One 2000 and The Wednesday Night Pizza Band 2002. In 2006 his Andrews Sisters Tribute Band, USA Canteen, released Swingin’ With The Sisters.

Jim Bensinger has played clarinet professionally for over 30 years. He retired after 20 years with the U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C. He studied with Dr. Jim Badolato of Montgomery College, Ed Walters at the University of Maryland, Frank Cohen of the Cleveland Symphony, and Al Asercion a retired Navy Musician and Selmer Clinician. He works as a freelance performing musician in the Washington area, as well as performing with the Montgomery College Orchestra, Victorian Lyric Opera, Swing Time Big Band, and Virginia Grand Military Band. Currently he is first clarinetist for Montgomery Philharmonic Orchestra.

Susan Jacobs Churchill, a Bethesda native, attended Woodward High School, and has been teaching clarinet for over 30 years. She received her B.A. in Music from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and her Masters degree in Music Performance from Catholic University. As a freelance musician, she has played at the Kennedy Center and with the Catholic University Summer Opera, as well as with many other orchestras and chamber groups in the Washington area. She studied with Charles Stier a professional local solo clarinetist, and Paul Eberly in Silver Spring. She is a member of the International Clarinet Association and Music Teachers National Association.

Steve Churchill graduated summa cum laude from The Catholic University of America and received his Masters degree in Oboe in 1993. He has played oboe, saxophone, clarinet, and flute in the Kennedy Center Opera House and Show Orchestras, The National Theater Orchestra, national tours of Broadway musicals, and network television shows, performing with artists as diverse as Ray Charles, Nat Adderly, Loretta Lynn, Steve Lawrence, Jerry Lewis, Johnn Mathis, Sam Moore, Kenny Rogers, and the Bolshoi Ballet. He has played principal oboe in the Maryland Symphony and at Opryland in Nashville, TN. In addition, he has taught at Catholic University and Howard County Community College and is on the faculty at Montgomery College.

Diana Loeb has a B.S. from Bradley University where she studied with Nancy Neidlinger while majoring in Music Business. She has studied with Linda Eagleson a local teacher, nationally renowned teachers Robin Fellows, Bonita Boyd, Robert Dick, and Vanita Jones. In previous summer’s, Diana was the Master Class teacher for the Mid-Atlantic Band Camp in Lynchburg, VA. She currently performs with the Montgomery Philharmonic Orchestra and past performances with The Musical Offering Flute Ensemble and the Montgomery College Orchestra. Diana also co-owns L&L Music with her husband Steve.

Tim Friedlander studied flute with Wallace Mann of the National Symphony Orchestra and more recently with Michel Debost and Kathleen Chastain of the Oberlin Flute Institute. He teaches beginning to advanced flute students of all ages. Tim is principal flutist in the Trinity Chamber Orchestra of Washington, D.C. and directs the Gaithersburg Flute Camp and the flute choir Flutitude. He was the musical director of the flute ensemble Flutes On The Brink, but continues to play with them and The Musical Offering directed by Vanita Jones. Tim is a life member of the Flute Society of Washington and a frequent soloist in the DC metropolitan area.

Angela Johnson started playing the trombone in fourth grade, when musicians demonstrating various instruments at her school asked for a volunteer to try playing the trombone. She was in love at the first glissando! In May 2009, she received her degree in music performance with honors from Temple University after performing two solo recitals. She has been featured as a soloist with The Ocean City Pops and the Busch Gardens Festhaus Band. She performs regularly with the Jersey Shore Pops Orchestra, Bayside Brass, Category 5 Winds and Capital Wind Symphony. Her primary teachers have been Matt Vaughn and Rick Linn, with additional instruction from Paul Bryan and Samuel Chen. In Master Classes, she has performed for Blair Bollinger, Eric Carlson, Abbie Conant, Brett Baker and David Bilger.

Glenn Rapoport was born and raised in a musical family in Portland, Maine where his father was a founding member of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. Glenn has been teaching piano for over 40 years and from 1976-2006 owned his own music studio in the Shady Grove Center in Gaithersburg, MD. He studied classical piano in Portland with George Whitney, a graduate of Bowdoin College. After moving to Washington, D.C., he studied with Robert Dumm, internationally known music educator and former dean of Pedagogy at The Catholic University of America. In Washington, Glenn extended his musical education by studying jazz and pop music including Broadway show tunes with well-known local musician and teacher, Rudy Lewis. Glenn had a regular gig at Mr. Smith’s in Georgetown and has played at numerous house parties, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and weddings. A recent memorable gig (2011) was for The American Board of Criminal Lawyers at the Ritz Carlton-West End which featured a surprise visit by President Joe Biden. Glenn teaches all styles of piano from classical to pop and jazz, and welcomes all ages.