DR. ANDREW PEREA

Dr. Andrew Perea has been in the music profession for over thirty-five years. In that time, he has run the gamut of the music industry, having conducted symphony orchestras, performed both as soloist and concertmaster with various ensembles, taught gifted students of all ages publicly and privately, recorded various albums in the studio, and collaborated with many talented commercial musicians. He loves every aspect of his work, including writing and arranging music of all styles and genres. His many collaborations include performances with such legendary artists as Yanni, Johnny Mathis, Ray Charles, Gunther Schuler, and the world-renowned violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman.

Apart from concertizing, Dr. Perea greatly enjoys working with young people. He taught in the Long Island public school system for twenty years and has directed various music festivals, including NMEA and SCMEA All-County, William Floyd All-District, and HMEA All-Area. Of course, he continues to enjoy being Musical Director of the Repertory and String Orchestras of the Gemini Youth Orchestras program. Currently, he is also working with Five Towns College to coordinate an extensive classical music performance program, along with its established jazz and commercial music, and audio and film engineering programs.

DR. JAMES P. MCCRANN
Dr. James P. McCrann has dedicated three decades to the music profession, serving as an educator, conductor, and performer. Recently appointed as the Conductor of the Gemini Youth Orchestras Symphony Orchestra, he brings a wealth of experience working with musicians from the elementary through doctoral levels.

Dr. McCrann is currently on the faculty at Five Towns College where he has directed the Wind Ensemble and teaches courses in music education methods, conducting, wind literature, and doctoral research. His recruitment efforts and collaboration in implementing the college’s Fellowship Performance Initiative led to extraordinary growth in its Wind Ensemble and graduate music programs. Additionally, Dr. McCrann served on the faculty of Hofstra University, where he conducted the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, taught conducting, and advised graduate research.

Since 1994, Dr. McCrann has led the high school band program in the Garden City, NY school district. He established and conducted a wide array of programs including the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Winds, Pit Orchestra, Wind Symphony, Marching Band, and Jazz Ensemble. He also served as the district’s inaugural Coordinator of Music and the Arts. During his tenure as a teacher and administrator, Garden City High School’s Music Program expanded its enrollment and offerings by more than four-fold, earning national recognition from NAMM and the Grammy Foundation. Among the esteemed guest conductors and composers that
he has brought to Garden City’s campus are Col. John Bourgeois, David Gillingham, Andrew Boysen Jr., Samuel Hazo, Robert Sheldon, and Daniel Bukvich. His collaborations with renowned composers, including Brian Balmages, Stephen Melillo, Kenneth Lampl, and Reber Clark have led to the commissioning of new works for band, orchestra, and choir. Notable among them was the premiere performance of a piece by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec, as part of a shared commission by a consortium of area high school band programs, which was broadcast to millions of people throughout New York City’s Penn Station. Students of Dr. McCrann have enjoyed successful careers in music, including professional orchestral conducting, composing for Broadway and television, playing for internationally acclaimed pop
singers, performing in leading New York City jazz venues, and inspiring future generations of students in music education and academia.

Dr. McCrann earned his DMA in Music Education and Conducting from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. His primary conducting mentors include Dr. Peter Loel Boonshaft, Dr. William Berz, and Eugene Corporon. He has been recognized by the Grammy Foundation, holds multiple honorary lifetime memberships in the Tri-M National Music Honor Society, is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society, and was named by School Band and Orchestra Magazine as one of “50 Directors Who Make a Difference.”

An avid writer, Dr. McCrann is the Band/Wind Ensemble Review Editor for the New York State School Music Association’s School Music News. His research has been published in national and
international publications and he has presented at regional conferences. Actively engaged as a clinician and guest conductor, Dr. McCrann has worked with bands and orchestras from across
the United States.

MICHAEL CANIPE
A native of North Carolina, Michael Canipe graduated from East Carolina University in 1964 with a B.S. in Music Education. While pursuing a masters degree in Trombone Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music, he studied conducting with James Levine. For the past forty-plus years Mr. Canipe has been active as both an educator and a professional musician. He was both a teacher and a band director in the Half Hollow Hills School District and retired as Director of Music and Fine Art for the Deer Park Schools in 2001. Mr. Canipe plays principal euphonium for the Queens-based Seuffert Band and the Concert Pops of Long Island. He has performed as trombonist in the North Carolina Symphony and bass trombonist for the Symphony of Long Island. Mr. Canipe founded the Long Island Tuba Quartet and has also collaborated with Orlando Ballet of Huntington and the Circle of Dance Company as arranger and conductor. Founder of the Gemini Festival Winds (now Gemini Concert Winds), Mr. Canipe served as Music Director of GYO from 2005-2007.