Directors

 

 

Director

Dick Schoenfeldt

Associate Directors
Grant Hoemke David Wolter Tammy Schoenfeldt
Grant Hoemke is a retired music educator, the former conductor of the Birmingham Concert Band and was, a few years ago, a student of Dr. Labuta. Dave Wolter was a music educator with the Saline Area Schools music program for many years. He is also the founder and director of the Saline Big Band Tammy Schoenfeldt is a music educator and the music director at the Saline First United Methodist Church

Alan Warmanen

 Joe Labuta
  Our founder, Dr, Joseph Labuta now an associate director, a member of the trumpet section, and an Instructor for our "Green Horn Band"  

 

Founding Director Dr. Joseph Labuta

 

New Horizons Band Director Dr. Joseph Labuta Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Click here for photos and video of the presentation

Our founding director, Dr. Joseph Labuta, is one of the premier music educators in the United States and we were fortunate to have him as our teacher and leader. Recently, an extensive oral history of Dr. Labuta's career was published in the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education 29/2 (April 2008) You can read that history at Joseph A. Labuta and His Life in Music Education: An Oral History by Stephen E. Zdzinski. The conclusion reads in part:

"From humble beginnings, Joseph A Labuta was encouraged by his immigrant parents to study music, and he excelled. Later, as a young band director, he became interested in teaching musicianship to his students, and spent his professional life presenting and writing articles and books that put comprehensive musicianship into concrete terms. His book on accountability was a benchmark of its era. His dissertation work with Charles Leonhard and years of college conducting teaching led to the creation of his conducting text, which is now in its fifth edition and still widely used. Labuta's contributions to music education have extended well beyond his teaching at Wayne State University, and his influence upon the profession has been both significant and enduring."

 

And here are some of the fun photos that accompany the article. We will have to get him to reprise the puppet show in one of our future concerts!