about Jennifer Gerhard...
Jennifer Gerhard is in her fourteenth year as a music educator. A 2002 graduate of Elizabethtown College, she obtained her BS in Music Education as a clarinet major and saxophone minor, under the tutelage of Mrs. Beverly Butts. Upon graduation, she spent seven years in Maryland as an Elementary/Middle school instrumental music teacher and band director for the Archdiocese of Washington DC's Archdiocesan Music Program (AMP). While in Maryland, she served as Archdiocesan Honors Band Director for three years. Her bands were consistently ranked among the top performers for seven years during the Archdiocesan Band Festival Competitions. Currently, she is an Elementary/Middle school instrumental music teacher and band director in the Hazleton Area School District. Instructing instrumental music students in West Hazleton EMS, Maple Manor EMS, and Height-Terrace EMS, all of her schools have seen tremendous growth in the musicianship and popularity of the band programs. In 2013, she started the HASD's first Elementary/Middle School Jazz Ensemble at Heights-Terrace EMS in an effort to challenge the top players in the school and introduce them to the world of jazz. She has worked with the HASD Summer Music Academy for the last 5 years, as well as a private lesson instructor, and pianist/choir accompanist at St. John Bosco Church in Conyngham, Pa. She is an active member of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). Jennifer resides in Drums, Pa with her fur-baby, Maggie Mae.
about Neil Forte III...
Neil Forte III has taught instrumental, vocal, and general music classes grades K-12 in the Hazleton Area School District for the past 26 years. Currently he teaches instrumental classes and is band director at Drums EMS and Freeland EMS but has also served as vocal/general/instrumental instructor at the former Hazle Elementary School and Hazleton Area High School Director of Bands including Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and many other instrumental ensembles for various performances. The marching band traveled and performed in such places as Chicago, Nashville, Boston, and Disney, Florida. The Marching Band received many awards for outstanding performances in Tournament of Bands and Cavalcade of Bands competitions. The HAHS Jazz Ensemble received "Outstanding" and "Superior" ratings along with "Best Soloist" and "Best Section" ratings consistently at competitions. Forte challenges all students at any level to strive for excellence and reach as far as they can in their musical studies. He had students that qualified for and attended County, District, Region, All-State, All-Eastern, and All-National levels of accomplishment. Many of his students also pursued becoming music educators/performers in their post-high school careers, metriculating to such schools as Temple, Penn State, Marywood, West Chester, Kutztown, Lebanon Valley, Mansfield, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Millersville, Ithaca, and North Texas University. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education, Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, and the National Band Association. He is a performer with the Faculty Saxophone Quartet on soprano saxophone. A graduate of Wilkes University, he studied saxophone as his major and clarinet as his minor with the late William Gasbarro, then saxophone with Thomas Heinze and clarinet with William Reinhart. He also studied jazz with legendary saxophonist Bob Wilbur.