ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS

ARMAND HALL | Dr. Armand Hall is the Director of Programs for the Gateways Music Festival and an adjunct professor at the Eastman School of Music. Previously he has held positions as the Executive and Artistic Director of the ROCmusic Collaborative (Rochester, NY) and the Associate Director of Bands and Coordinator of Instrumental Music Education at the University of Memphis. In addition to collegiate-level teaching, he has taught, adjudicated, and been a clinician at the middle school and high school levels and worked as a teaching artist in El Sistema-inspired community music programs around the country. He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music education from the University of Michigan and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in wind conducting at Michigan State University. Additionally, he is the Board Chair for El Sistema USA and serves on the boards of the Archipelago Project, Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and is one of the administrators of the Dr. William P. Foster Project, aimed at supporting excellence in music education and community impact in under-resourced areas.

ISREA BUTLER | Trombonist, conductor and Music Department Head at Valdosta State University, Isrea Butler earned degrees in Trombone Performance from the Eastman School of Music (BM and MM) and Rutgers University (DMA). Butler served as Music Department Chair and Professor of Trombone at North Carolina Central University from 2017-2021. He has also taught at the Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School's Music Advancement Program, and Rutgers University. Butler is a founding member of the Gateways Brass Collective as well as the lead trombonist of the legendary Count Basie Orchestra. He performs with many of NYC's top jazz ensembles and has played trombone and tuba for eight Broadway productions.

ANDREW FRANÇOIS | Born and raised in Kankakee, Illinois, violist Andrew François currently serves as a member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. François has played and served as principal with several orchestras, including the Verbier Festival Orchestra and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, New World Symphony Orchestra. He was also in the inaugural Los Angeles Philharmonic Resident Fellows program. Previously, François served as artist faculty with the Anchorage Chamber Music Festival and has traveled to Medellin, Colombia to teach masterclasses and lessons at Universidad Escuela de Administración, Finanzas e Instituto Tecnológico (EAFIT). As a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music, studying under string department chair, Stephen Wyrczynski, François was the graduate assistant for the string department as well on the Jacobs School of Music Council as a graduate representative.

GEOFFREY JOHNSON | Oboist, educator and Houston, Texas native, Geoffrey Johnson is an active chamber musician in the Detroit area and regularly performs with the Detroit Chamber Winds, Scarab Club Chamber Society and with colleagues from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Johnson was acting second oboist of Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 2014-2017 and will return this season. He has also performed with several major orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa, Canada), Sarasota Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Windsor Symphony (CA), Pittsburgh Opera, Seraphic Fire and performs regularly with Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra, Fisher Theatre Orchestra (Broadway Tours) and Sphinx Symphony Orchestra. Johnson holds a Masters in Music Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from Baylor University.