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Emma Wells has played French Horn since the age of 10. She began playing with MCBE in 2024, right after receiving a Bachelors of Music from Belmont University.

In school, Emma was the principal horn for both the Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, performed in the pit for the Opera and Musical Theater ensembles, and participated in several student recording sessions at Ocean Way Studios.

Her favorite performance memories include performing Dukas' Villanelle with the Belmont Symphony Orchestra as a winner of their concerto competition and in the pit for Belmont's production of 42nd Street. 

Emma is currently working as the Donor Relations Coordinator for Belmont University and actively seeks performance opportunities around the area! 

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Lisa Burden is the assistant director of bands for Tullahoma City Schools. Along with the amazing opportunity to perform with the Music City Brass Ensemble, she plays horn in the Tennessee Valley Winds and is the solo tenor horn for the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass.

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Megan Cargin is a 2018 graduate of Belmont University where she received her master’s degree in Music Performance.

Prior to moving to Nashville, she received her bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia where she met her husband and fellow Music City Brass Ensemble member, Ryan Lambright.

Megan is also a member of the Brass Band of Nashville and the Hendersonville First Baptist Church Orchestra, and she has enjoyed recent performances with the W.O. Smith Community Orchestra as well as various musical theatre productions with the Hendersonville Performing Arts Company.

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John is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University (where he met his lovely wife Audrey) with a Bachelor's degree in Music Industry.  He studied horn under the instruction of Angela DeBoer and played in numerous ensembles at the University.  In 2016, he performed under the direction of composer/producer Ryan Truesdell as a part of the Gil Evans project. 

John works with Naxos of America in Franklin, TN, selling the Naxos Music Library classical streaming database.

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Greg Snyder is an adjunct professor at Belmont University, director of the Nashville Youth Wind Ensemble, and part-time Antioch High School band director. He taught 35 years in Ohio, and is director emeritus at Lakota West High School. His bands performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic on three occasions, at the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. He is an elected member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association.

For more information, go to GregSnyderBand.com.

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Glen Trew has been playing French horn since 1966. A Nashville native, he played for four years in the Nashville Youth Orchestra, then professionally through the 1970s, including with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. 

Trew was a horn major at the music school at Peabody College in Nashville before shifting to a 40+ year career in television and film as a production sound mixer. He is now president of TrewAudio, with offices in Nashville, Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, and very happy to be playing, once again, with the Music City Brass Ensemble.

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Walter Everton plays French Horn with MCBE since 2019.

He earned is BM in Horn  Performance in 2018 and a BS in Recording arts in 2019 from Indian University Jacobs  School of Music. He works as a freelance location and post production audio engineer, and  he makes products for Remote Audio including the specialty custom MYNA in ear  monitors. He likes to work on audio post and music composition in his free time. You’ll find  him recording both NPO and MCBE concerts with his field recording equipment.

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Katie has been playing trumpet with the MCBE since Fall of 2018. Additionally, she plays with the Tennessee Valley Winds, Green Hills Wind Symphony, and several brass quintets. She has B.M.E. from Otterbein University and a Masters in Music Performance from Belmont University. Katie taught middle school band in MNPS for 15 years and was a three-time recipient of the CMA Foundation’s Music Teachers of Excellence award. 

Currently, Katie runs a real estate business and spends time with her daughter Emma, husband Drew, and their pet dog and cat.  

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Denise has been with MCBE since June of 2022. Originally a Chicagoan, she lived in WI for over 30 years before moving to TN in 2019. 

Primarily working as an executive in specialty bookselling, Denise is now retired – leaving more time for trumpet and flugelhorn.  She also currently plays with the White House Community Band and in the pit (her first love) for local high school and community theatre musicals. 

Previously in WI & IL, in addition to miscellaneous band, drum corps & pit groups, Denise was a member of the 1st Brigade Band - a Civil War era brass band that performs on its large collection of period instruments and has recorded over 15 albums.  After several years in Music Ed. at Northern Illinois University, she received a BA in Theology from Loyola Chicago and was a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame. 

Non-musical fun fact: before moving to the toooo hot South, Denise was active in downhill skiing and racing.  That sport is on-hold until she lives closer to ski hills again.

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Rob Fay has been a member of the Music City Brass Ensemble since its inception. He currently serves as the Assistant Director of Bands at Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, TN. He earned his Bachelor of Music from Vanderbilt University in 2016. During his time in the trumpet studio at Vanderbilt, he performed as a featured soloist with the Blair Big Band, Spirit of Gold Marching Band, and won the 2016 Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition.  He also served on the Nashville Jazz Orchestra Board of Directors and as president of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity.

After graduation, he performed across the country with the Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps. Following that summer tour, he returned to Vanderbilt University and earned his master’s degree in education. During this time, he served as the graduate assistant & drill writer for the Vanderbilt marching band. After graduating, Rob performed around the world with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Entertainment before returning to Nashville. Rob currently performs with a variety of recording artists around the Nashville area.

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Alex Bansemer, a native of Hendersonville, TN, is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, where he earned a Bachelor’s in Trumpet Performance. During his time there he studied with Dr. Michael Arndt. He also holds a Master’s degree in Music Education from Anderson University in South Carolina. 

Alex is a music educator and is going into his tenth year at Rucker Stewart Middle School in Gallatin, TN. He also teaches private lessons in the Sumner County area. 

Alex is also an avid performer and has performed with several groups around the area, some of which include: The Brass Band of Nashville, The Green Hills Wind Symphony, and The Music City Brass Ensemble.

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A native of Murfreesboro, TN, Tyler Bouttavong is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and studied Trumpet Performance under Dr. Michael Arndt.

Tyler currently teaches at several schools in the Rutherford County School System, Davidson County Metro Public School System, Maury County School System, as well as his own private studio. He strives to provide the highest level of instruction. A majority of his students place at the top of their school band programs and many have also made it into various honor ensembles such as the MTSBOA All Mid-State Honor Ensembles; TMEA All-State Ensembles; MTSU Honors Orchestra; Vanderbilt Philharmonic Youth Orchestra; Vanderbilt Curb Youth Symphony; Nashville Summer Orchestral Institute; Drum Corps International; as well as the prestigious Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts. Some students have received music scholarships to attend university.

Tyler is also an active performing musician. He has performed with various symphony orchestras around the area such as the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and Nashville Collegiate Orchestra. Tyler has also given performances overseas with the Hollywood Film Music Orchestra in Nanjing, China.

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Trumpeter Eric Hagaman holds music performance degrees from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University and University of Louisville, where he studied with Gary Armstrong, Patrick Kunkee, and Michael Tunnell. Currently employed as a product management director in the software industry, Eric has cultivated his musical interests as an avid classical music fan and active performer for 30 years. As a member of the Nashville music scene, he has performed with the Music City Brass Ensemble since 2019 as well as the Nashville Philharmonic, Green Hills Wind Symphony, Nashville Brass Band, and Franklin Brass Quintet.

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Alan Suska, a graduate of Duquesne University, moved to Nashville in 1980. Alan has continued an extensive career as a freelance musician and teacher. Currently, Alan is principal trumpet with the Murfreesboro Symphony and the Nashville Praise Symphony along with being the first-call trumpet player for several contractors in the area.

As an educator, Alan is currently teaching beginning band at Overbrook School in addition to individual private brass lessons at several schools in the Middle Tennessee area. Recently, Alan was the Director of Instrumental Music at Pope John Paul II High School. Alan’s resume also includes teaching stints at many of middle Tennessee’s universities as an adjunct professor. This includes the University of the South, where he both teaches and plays in the Sewanee Symphony.

Alan continues to perform extensively throughout the southeast U.S. and has recently traveled to Europe and South America for orchestral and big band performances.

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Ryan Lambright is a relative newcomer to the Nashville area after spending the early part of his teaching career in Florida. He holds the degrees of Master of Music in Euphonium Performance from Mercer University and Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of South Alabama. Lambright currently serves as Director of Bands for Perry County Schools in Linden, Tennessee. Outside of teaching, he actively performs with the Hendersonville Performing Arts Company on trumpet, the Brass Band of Nashville on tuba, and First Baptist Church of Hendersonville orchestra on various brass instruments alongside his wife, hornist Megan Cargin.

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Medicine is my Calling but Music is my Passion. I am a Gastroenterologist/Hepatologist and Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University who spends most of my free time playing trombone.

Rehearsals and performances with the Moonlighters and Establishment big bands, Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra and now MCBE keep me busy. I also founded and lead a large trombone choir, Bone Therapy (bonetherapy.org), that rehearses and performs regularly.

I consider myself fortunate to have played with and learned from some outstanding musicians growing up in Ohio and here in Music City. Involvement in the International Trombone Association has been rewarding and led to co-hosting the 40th anniversary International Trombone Festival here in Nashville, TN in 2011.

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Originally from Houston, Texas, Rick Blake has been in Nashville since 2016.

By day he is a software developer and in his free time enjoys playing trombone around town whenever he can. He has played with MCBE since its inception and also performs with the Bone Therapy Trombone Choir. 

He holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of North Texas, and a Master's of Music Performance from Roosevelt University where he studied with Jay Friedman of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Rick has been recognized for several awards for his solo and chamber work, including being named a finalist for the International Trombone Association’s Larry Wiehe Competition.

Besides trombone, his other interests include golfing, disc golfing, rock climbing and spending time with family and friends.

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Originally from Iowa, Reid Clagett started playing trombone at an early age. After achieving many accomplishments as a young musician he eventually earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Iowa State University in 2013. While at Iowa State he was a winner of the Iowa State University Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, a semi-finalist for the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, and participated in the Southeast Trombone Symposium. He has also had the opportunity to perform in Europe with multiple ensembles in his career. Reid currently plays bass trombone in the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra and the Music City Brass Ensemble and has been called to record in various studios around the Nashville area.

Reid is an active bass guitarist, and has played in a wide range of genres with bands such as 7th Generation, Deadnote, The Euclids, Jon Reynolds and The Aches, and Jon Worthy. He currently plays in Year of October and Aconundrum. He is endorsed by Audiozone Amplifier Company.

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Brian Entwistle is a freelance bass trombonist and teacher in Nashville, Tennessee. His experiences and skills extend all across the musical world, including solo performance, orchestral performances, jazz and commercial playing, and teaching.

As a freelancer, Brian is a frequent recording artist with Nashville Music Scoring at the Ocean Way studio. He has recorded music for several video game and movie scores; notable examples include the Call of Duty franchise, Destiny 2, and Spider-Man (2018). As a jazz artist, he has performed with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, the Tennessee Jazz Collective, the Nashville Jazz Composer’s Collective, and Tim Rushlow and his Big Band.

Brian is regularly called as a sub to various orchestras in the Southeast United States. He has performed with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, and the New World Symphony, under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. He has also performed with the National Repertory Orchestra of Colorado.

As a soloist, Brian has been a finalist for several competitions, including the American Trombone Workshop National Solo Competition, the International Trombone Association’s George Roberts Competition, and the ITA’s Donald Yaxley Competition. He has also appeared as a guest soloist with the University of Oklahoma Trombone Choir.

Brian holds a degree from Vanderbilt University (BM 2016). His primary teachers have been Jeremy Wilson and Gerald Felker.

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Jonathan Hooper was Director of Bands for 25 years at Tarleton State University. He has been a guest clinician, conductor, performer, and adjudicator throughout the United States, and Europe, and has performed at the Montreux, Prague, and Vienna Jazz Festivals. As a musical arranger and composer, he has over 200 titles. Now retired, he is a consultant for both Conn-Selmer and the London New Year’s Day Parade, and plays his bass trombone every chance he gets. His degrees are from Abilene Christian University and East Texas State University.

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Charles Jenkins is a native Texan and a recent transplant to Nashville. He is a graduate of Baylor University with a degree in music education, where he studied trombone under Dr. David Gier and conducting with Michael Haithcock. He taught band in the Texas public schools for 15 years, mostly in the East Texas area. After leaving the teaching profession, he moved to another career in the insurance industry that he continues today. He has performed with a number of Texas community music groups such as the East Texas Symphonic Band, the Austin Civic Wind Ensemble, and the Waterloo Wind Band.

While recently living in the Philadelphia, PA area, he also performed with the Montgomery County Community Band, recent winners of the Sudler Silver Scroll from the John Phillip Sousa Foundation. In addition to performing with Music City Brass Ensemble, Charles also performs with the W.O. Smith Community Orchestra and Bone Therapy.   

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A Nashville native, alumnus of the University of Louisville, Aspen Music Festival and the New College Music Festival, Wes Ramsay has built a career as performer, composer, publisher and teacher. Wes serves as Representative of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (London UK), and is an active member of American Choral Directors Association, International Trombone Association, and the American Federation of Musicians. He is a writer and publisher member of ASCAP and serves as publisher for August Press (ASCAP) and Hidebound Music (BMI), both administered by BMG Rights Management.

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A native of the south Chicago suburbs, Rob Sherrill covered high school sports for over a decade at the Chicago Sun-Times as part of a 40-year media career. He remains active as an analyst of high school wrestling, both in Illinois and nationally, as an author and blogger.

A member of the Bone Therapy trombone choir and the Moonlighters Big Band, Rob otherwise embraces his role as Nashville’s bass trombone rehearsal sub. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Penn State University.

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Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Alex Snyder has been in Nashville since 2013. He is currently a band director at Grassland Middle School in Franklin, Tennessee, and was named a CMA Music Teacher of Excellence in 2016. He holds a Bachelors degree from Youngstown State University, and a Masters of Music from Carnegie Mellon University where he studied with Peter Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Alex also performs with the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra and Bone Therapy Trombone Choir.

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In her second year of teaching, Briana Engelbert Vogt is excited to share her musical experiences to inspire the next generation of young adults. Ms. Engelbert holds degrees from Tennessee Tech (BME) and Indiana University (MM and MME), where she studied with R. Winston Morris and Dan Perantoni. Briana is the Co-Director of Bands at Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro, TN.

As a musician, Briana has performed in Carnegie Hall, the Schermerhorn, toured two continents, and has been a soloist with the IU Wind Ensemble, TTU Tuba Ensemble and Wind Ensemble, and the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. She can be heard on the published recording, Evolutions, where she was praised for her “sophisticated tone, technical precision, and lively expressiveness.” Briana’s accolades include winning the 2015 IU Brass Concerto Competition and the 2010 DCI Ensemble Competition.

Ms. Engelbert is a member of NAfME, TMEA, and ITEA; Briana credits her early interest in education to her mentors, Greg Bimm, Bobby Lambert, and Kristen Engelbert. She enjoys camping with her husband and dog (Austin and Percy, respectively) and eating all of the pizza.

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Atticus Hensley is the band director at both East Middle School and West Middle School in Tullahoma, Tennessee. He has held this position since 2010. From 1995 to 2009, he served as the Brass Specialist for Tullahoma City Schools, as well as the Assistant Beginning Band Director. He is also the staff arranger for the Tullahoma High School Marching Band and the director of the Tullahoma High School Tuba Ensemble.

Mr. Hensley has served on the Executive Board of the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, and is a member of NAfME, TBA and ITEA. He sits on the Tennessee Council of Visual and Performing Arts Supervisors, and is the Fine Arts Coordinator for Tullahoma City Schools. In the summers, Mr Hensley works as a facilitator for the Arts Leadership track of the Tennessee Arts Academy.

Mr. Hensley graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1992, and a Masters degree in Euphonium Performance in 1995. He completed his certification in music education at Belmont University. He was invited to be a part of the Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble, and has performed with this group on many occasions including the 2007 “Legacy” album. In 1999, he was a semi-finalist in the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium Competition. He currently lives in Murfreesboro with his wife Caroline and daughter Stephanie.

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Carroll Gotcher has been a music educator in Jackson County (TN) for the past 30 years. He earned a Bachelors Degree from Tennessee TEchnological University and a Masters Degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in Music Education.

In addition to his school band responsibilities, he performs on Euphonium with the MCBE, the Green Hills Wind Symphony, and on Baritone Horn with the Southern Stars Symhonic Brass Band. He fills in the rest of his spare time conducting the Cookeville Community Band and leading the Big Band Sound Jazz Orchestra.

He and his wife, Jane Anne, live in Cookeville with their two children - Vance and Kira.

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Daniel Aston is currently assigned as a tuba player with the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) Band at Fort Campbell, KY. He has been serving on active duty with the United States Army Music Program for 17 years and he was recently awarded the Colonel Finley R. Hamilton Outstanding Military Musician award. As an Army musician, his performing duties include performing with the ceremonial band, as well as a chamber musician and soloist. In 2018, while assigned to the 399th Army Band, his quintet, “The Missouri Brass,” competed against Music Performance Teams across the entire U.S. Army and was selected as The Music Performance Team of the Year. In 2017, he performed in recital with Mr. Jim Cipriano at the Great Plains and Southeast Tuba Euphonium conferences. In 2015, he toured the Northeastern United States with the U.S. Air Force Heritage Brass. Throughout his career, he has performed as a soloist with the 392nd Army Band, the 2nd Infantry Division Band, and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Band.

Mr. Aston has also enjoyed many performance opportunities while off-duty. He has performed with the Fayetteville Symphony, the Virginia Wind Symphony, the Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble, the Virginia Peninsula Corps Band, and the National Capital Band of the Salvation Army. Most recently, he has enjoyed the opportunities to perform with the Cumberland Winds and the Music City Brass Ensemble. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Thomas Edison State University and he is currently pursuing a Master’s degree of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri. He has studied with Gil Long, Michael Sanders, Sheryl Linch-Parker, Kelly Hardee-Wheeler, Robert Pruzin, Jeff Cortazzo, Dennis Bubert, Vern Kagarice, and James Miller.

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Gil Long teaches both university-level and precollege tuba and euphonium.

Nashville native. BMA, (1975) University of Louisville. Principal Tuba: Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra (1975-1978), Nashville Symphony Orchestra (1978-present), Nashville Ballet and Nashville Opera, Nashville Chamber Brass Society, Nashville Contemporary Brass Quintet.

Performances with the Louisville Orchestra, Huntsville Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Mr. Jack Daniel’s Original Silver Cornet Band, Belmont Brass Quintet, Blair Brass Quintet, Middle Tennessee State University Brass Quintet.

Teaches at Belmont and Vanderbilt Universities, Sewanee Summer Music Festival (1975-2000). Personnel Manager: Nashville Symphony Orchestra (1979-1981).

Solo performances: Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Chamber Brass Society, Fish Creek Music Festival, Southeastern Horn Conference, Middle Tennessee State University Wind Ensemble. Freelance and studio work in Nashville. Recorded with Mr. Jack Daniel’s Original Silver Cornet Band, Nashville Contemporary Brass Quintet, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Larnell Harris, Sandy Patty, Crystal Gayle, Garth Brooks, Box Car 20, Jars of Clay, Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Faith Hill, Ronnie Milsap, David Clydesdale, CNN, American Airlines, ESPN, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Ernest Goes to Jail, Ernest Goes to Camp, The Johnny Cash Show, brass quintet CD, Classical Brass and Classical Wedding, for Green Hill Productions, multiple recordings with the Nashville Symphony of which Made in America won a Grammy. Manages Aardworks.com, a brass publishing company.

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Chris Warpool, tuba, is currently entering his 21st year as band director at White House Middle School. Mr. Warpool is a graduate of White House High School and has a B.S. in Music Education from Austin Peay State University. Some of his teachers include Gil Long, Brad Kinney, Bob Lee and Bill McMinn. Mr. Warpool freelances throughout the Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky area.

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Alan Puglisi moved to Nashville, TN from Virginia Beach, VA in 2006 to attend Vanderbilt University, where he received his Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance in 2010. He was then accepted into the graduate program at Belmont University where he received his Master of Music in 2012.

Alan has performed as a featured soloist with the Belmont Orchestra and Vanderbilt Wind Ensemble. Additionally, he has collaborated with local musicians, programming recitals including solo and duo works for percussion, flute, and voice. Alan has performed in several theater productions, including Miss Saigon, West Side Story, and Caroline, or Change. Other credits include performances with the Nashville Concerto Orchestra, the Vanderbilt Wind Symphony, and the Vanderbilt Percussion Ensemble.

Alan is currently the principal timpanist for the W. O. Smith Community Orchestra and the Music City Brass Ensemble. As an educator, he has worked at McGavock High School, and Vanderbilt University. Alan is now the front ensemble director at Brentwood High School in addition to teaching privately in the Nashville area.

https://alanpuglisi.com/