Saxophonist, Educator, and Composer/Arranger, Mark Smith has served his local community through music since first picking up the saxophone 23 years ago. His passion for music and teaching young students has left a lasting impact on the Texas band and chamber music community. His student quartets, Quantum Quartet and Plexus Quartet, have been featured on the nationally-syndicated program, From the Top, and have received several Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award Scholarships. Mark works as an applied teacher, chamber music coach and masterclass instructor at Hebron High School and its feeder middle schools, Killian MS, Arbor Creek MS, and Creek Valley MS.

Brent Baldwin is Assistant Director of Bands at Bixby Public Schools and serves as coordinator of jazz studies. His teaching duties at Bixby High School include assisting the Pride of Bixby Marching Band, leading the Bixby High School Jazz Ensemble I, conducting the Bixby High School Symphonic Bands and teaching the High School Saxophone Choir, High School Flute Choir. At Bixby Middle School, Mr. Baldwin assists with the 8th Grade Band, Middle School Jazz Bands, and beginning woodwinds at East Intermediate and West Intermediate. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at Bixby, Mr. Baldwin has also served as an instructor for Zephyrus Arts Institute and is active as a private saxophone instructor and performer in the Tulsa area. Prior to his teaching at Bixby, Mr. Baldwin taught for Sapulpa Public Schools.

Jill Johnson officially joined the Jenks Band staff in the Fall of 2019 and teaches all beginning flute classes at East and West Intermediate. Mrs. Johnson has four years of experience teaching band and over 25 years of experience teaching all levels of flute. She currently maintains a private flute studio of over twenty students who are consistently selected for NCDA Honor Band, OKMEA All-State Band, Tulsa Youth Symphony, and The Oklahoma Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain. Her students are also very successful at the District and State Solo and Ensemble Contests in the spring, earning many superior ratings. Jill also has a love for chamber music and enjoys coaching small flute and woodwind ensembles.

Bryant Anderson is originally from San Antonio, Texas. He recently graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in music studies and a minor in arts management and administration. During his time at UT, he studied saxophone with Dr. Stephen Page and had the opportunity to perform in groups such as the UT Wind Ensemble, UT Symphony Orchestra, and the famous Longhorn Band. Bryant is also a huge proponent of chamber music, having played in and competed with various saxophone quartets since his sophomore year at Ronald Reagan High School in North East ISD. Previously, Bryant worked as a marching technician for Westwood High School in Round Rock ISD and as an education intern for the Austin Chamber Music Center.

Helen Blackburn is the Artist Teacher of Flute (in the Yvonne Franklin Endowed Chair) at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) in Canyon, TX. Helen is also principal flutist with the Dallas Opera Orchestra and a core member of Dallas’ modern music ensemble, Voices of Change. She performs with her husband (marimba virtuoso, Drew Lang), is a regular “extra” with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and has numerous credits with major performing arts organizations, including the Breckenridge Music Festival (principal flute for 13 years), Aspen Music Festival (piccolo fellow for 4 years), the Brevard Music Center, and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. Playing flute is her passion; teaching and mentoring flute students is her calling, and she is thrilled to have a life that embraces both equally!

Madison Hoyt is an intuitive flutist and music educator with a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Oklahoma. Mentored under the brilliance of Dr. Valerie Watts, Madison has performed as Principal Flute with the OU Wind Symphony and Symphony Orchestra, contributing to professional recordings and touring across Oklahoma and Texas. In 2023 she was honored to win the OU Concerto Competition, performing as a soloist for students and community audiences. She also won admission to the Fresno Opera & Orchestra Summer Academy, where she studied with Dr. Mihoko Watanabe, an internationally acclaimed flutist and professor at Ball State University. Madison is passionate about both music and personal growth, believing that learning extends beyond technical skills to fostering confidence, creativity, and resilience.

Beyond performance, Madison is committed to music education, having taught private flute lessons to students ranging from middle school to high school since 2017. She has also worked as a guest instructor, ensemble coach, and substitute teacher, emphasizing student engagement, musical growth, and holistic development. Her experience extends to conducting sectionals, selecting repertoire, and leading rehearsals for various ensembles in the Oklahoma City district.

Madison is a member of the Oklahoma Flute Society, the National Association for Music Education, and the Oklahoma Music Educators Association. She looks forward to continuing to share her love of music while encouraging growth in herself and others.

Oboist Jung Choi, a native of South Korea, has quickly established a career of both performing and teaching. She was honorably mentioned twice as the finalist for the Gillet-Fox International Oboe Competition and started teaching and giving master classes at a collegiate level.

Having made her concerto debut at the age of 16, Choi has since appeared as soloist with the Seoul Yego Orchestra, SNU Wind Ensemble, Buchoen Youth Philharmonic, Seoul Youth Philharmonic, Seoul Chamber Orchestra and Eastman Philharmonia. She also has appeared internationally as a chamber and orchestral musician in Germany, France, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan.

While she was working on her master’s degree at the Eastman School of Music, Choi was appointed as oboe/English horn player at the Binghamton Philharmonic. She taught at Nazareth College and Roberts Wesleyen College in Rochester, NY as well. Upon graduation from Eastman where she was appointed assistant principal for the Korean Symphony Orchestra and gave up to 90 concerts annually. Choi also taught oboe at Seoul National University, her alma mater. As a devoted teacher her students won major music competitions in Korea, were invited to compete in oboe competitions such as the Muri Competition and Prague Spring Competition, and were invited to Pacific Music Festival, American Institute of Musical Studies, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Interlochen Summer Arts Camp.

Choi is an avid chamber musician and a member of wind ensemble Winds, the Piri oboe ensemble and a woodwind quintet, Sunyul. She was invited as principal oboist of Daegwanryoung Music Festival, Incheon and Arts Festival and Malaysia Festival Orchestra. Apart from classical music, Choi’s interest lies in other genres of music as well. She has recorded music for movies, musicals, and K-pop songs. She also performed the oboe on a Korean national television show collaborating with a poet.

Choi’s principal teachers include Richard Killmer, Yun Jung Lee, Myung Jin Lee, Soo Keum Kim and Jong Duk Kim. She comes to UNT from Missouri State University. 

Dr. Corey Mackey enjoys a multi-faceted career as an educator, orchestral musician, soloist, and chamber musician.  He recently joined the faculty of Texas Christian University's School of Music as the Assistant Professor of Clarinet.

Mackey maintains a bustling national presence, while international tours have taken him to Europe and China.  He has appeared with Cincinnati-based ensemble concert:nova, Orchestra Iowa, Quad Cities Symphony (IA), Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Flagstaff Symphony, Richmond Symphony (IN), and has performed and recorded an album with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  During his tenure as Principal Clarinet of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra (2009-2020) he appeared as a featured soloist in concertos by Mozart and Copland.  A proponent of new music, Mackey has premiered and/or commissioned works by Carter Pann, Libby Larsen, Adam Gorb, Jim Stephenson, William Neil, and Nathan Daughtrey.  He is a founding member of the Mackey/Lienert Duo, a dynamic clarinet and percussion chamber ensemble whose debut album of new works for clarinet and percussion, Escape, was released in 2018 on the Mark Custom label. 

An in-demand pedagogue, Dr. Mackey has presented masterclasses and guest recitals at universities across the country and in China.  He has performed at several conferences, including the International Clarinet Association's ClarinetFest, International Double Reed Society, International Tuba Euphonium Conference, Iowa Music Teachers Association, and the College Music Society’s National Conference.  Additional endeavors have included his appointment as Artistic Director of the Mineral Point Chamber Music Festival (WI), Founder and Artistic Director of the Blue Dish Music Festival, ICA Wisconsin State Chair, and host of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra's Gen S community outreach events.  He has appeared as a guest artist several times on Wisconsin Public Radio's All Classical Network and WDRT's "Symphony Sunday" program.  

Dr. Mackey holds a D.M.A. from the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, M.M. from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, and B.M. in Music Education and Performance from Northern Arizona University. His principal teachers include Burt Hara, Richie Hawley, Jonathan Gunn, Jeremy Reynolds, and Michael Sullivan.  Prior to his appointment at TCU Dr. Mackey was the Assistant Professor of Clarinet at the University of Wisconsin - Platteville.  He is a Buffet Group USA Artist - Clinician and D’Addario Performing Artist.  

Dr. Suzanne Tirk is Associate Professor of Clarinet and the Assistant Director of the School of Music in Recruitment and Engagement at the University of Oklahoma. A dynamic performer and teacher, Dr. Tirk has established a national and international reputation with numerous performance and masterclass presentations throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As a member of Duo Iona and the Oak Trio, Dr. Tirk has been dedicated to the commissioning and performance of works for clarinet and trumpet, and clarinet, trumpet, and trombone, respectively. She has served as principal clarinet with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and Norman Philharmonic Orchestra, and has performed with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and Classical Music Festival Orchestra. Having suffered from an overuse injury early in her career, Dr. Tirk’s research specialties revolve around mental practice techniques and the specific positioning and motion of the hands/fingers/arms in clarinetists suffering from overuse injuries.

In addition to the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Tirk has served on the faculties of the Interharmony International Music Festival (Arcidosso, Italy), Wichita State University, and Bemidji State University. Her students have been highly successful, holding university professorships and K-12 music positions, maintaining private studios, auditioning into symphony orchestras, military bands, and chamber ensembles, and working in the field of music business. During her tenure at Wichita State University, Dr. Tirk received the College of Fine Arts ‘Excellence in Teaching Award’ and performed with the ensemble in residence, Lieurance Woodwind Quintet. She can be heard on the recording of the Lieurance Quintet, Music from the Americas, released by Summit Records in 2011.

Active in several professional organizations, Dr. Tirk holds memberships with the International Clarinet Association, the College Music Society, the Performing Arts Medicine Association, the International Alliance for Women in Music, the National Association for Music Education, and the Oklahoma Music Educators Association. Dr. Tirk has written an article for The Instrumentalist magazine on clarinet fundamentals, and has presented clinics for the Midwest Clinic: An International Band and Orchestra Clinic, NAfME, the Oklahoma Music Teachers Association, the Montana Music Educators Association, the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference, the Kansas Music Educators Association, the Kansas Bandmasters Association, the Senseney Music Total Band Director Workshop, and the Wichita Metropolitan Music Teachers Association.

Dr. Tirk holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and a Master of Music degree and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University. Her teachers have included Elsa Ludewig Verdehr, Charles Neidich, Theodore Oien, Colin Lawson, Fan Lei, and Richard Faria. Dr. Tirk is proud to serve as a Henri Selmer Paris Artist, performing on the Muse Bb and A clarinet.

Brandon M. Collins is the Associate Director of Bands at Bixby Public Schools, where he serves as the conductor of the High School Symphonic Winds. Additionally, Mr. Collins leads the visual caption for the Pride of Bixby Marching Band, as well as assisting in the brass caption. At Bixby Middle School, Mr. Collins co-teaches 7th Grade Blue, and he teaches Beginning Brass at both Central and West Elementary. Mr. Collins also serves as the Applied Music instructor, where students learn various skills that prepare them for the world of professional instrumental arts.

Mr. Collins has earned numerous superior ratings and sweepstakes at OSSAA District and State Contests for marching band, concert band, and sight-reading performances, and he has served as the NCDA high school chair for 2017-2018 and GCBDA President for 2024-2025. His students have received numerous superior ratings for both solos and ensembles at Solo and Ensemble Contest, and his private clarinet studio includes All-District and All-State students from all over Oklahoma. He has served as a member of the Tulsa Praise Orchestra, Starlight Band, and as the Director of the Celebrations Choir and Frontline Singers for Tulsa Praise Orchestra.

His professional affiliations include Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Oklahoma Bandmasters Association, and Oklahoma Music Educators Association.

Milik Coffer is the Assistant Band Director at Edmond Santa Fe HIgh School,  Summit Middle School and Heartland Middle School in Edmond, Oklahoma. Mr. Coffer is a graduate of MacArthur High School ('13) and the University of Oklahoma (BME '18). He is currently in his sixth year of public education. His teaching duties include beginning clarinet, flute, and saxophone at the middle school level, and instructing the Edmond Santa Fe High School 9th grade Band, Saxophone Choirs, Clarinet Choirs, and Flute Choir. Under the direction of Mr.Coffer, the Edmond Santa Fe 9th Grade band and Woodwind Chamber Ensembles have been consistent recipients of Superior Ratings at OSSAA District and State Contests. Additionally, Mr. Coffer was  selected as an OKMEA Outstanding Young Music Educator in 2024

In addition to his daily teaching schedule, Mr. Coffer operates a private clarinet studio, which has produced multiple regional honor band and  All-State players over the years. 

Mr. Coffer serves as the treasurer and clinic coordinator for Central Oklahoma Bandmasters Association (CODA), and is a member of  Oklahoma Bandmasters Association (OBA),  Oklahoma Music Educators Association (OkMEA), and International Clarinet Association (ICA)

Mary Lollis is currently in her third year at Sapulpa Public Schools where she teaches band to all ages and all abilities. She previously taught thirteen years in the Tulsa Union Band program as well as two years in Edmond and four years in Jenks Public Schools. Mrs. Lollis taught applied clarinet and woodwind methods at Northeastern State University and while in Arizona, taught band at a charter school in Chandler Arizona for grades four through twelve.

Her playing career spans from playing saxophone and clarinet on a Carnival Cruise line ship, Celebration, to playing in musicals, operas, orchestras, concert bands, and big bands. Locally, she has performed with the Starlight Band, Signature Symphony, Tulsa Light Opera Orchestra, Celebrity Attraction Productions, Tulsa Ballet Orchestra, the Council Oak Trio, and the Tulsa Clarinet Quartet. Mary played second clarinet with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra from 2006 - 2018 and the Tulsa Opera Orchestra from 2001 - 2018. She continues playing throughout the community whenever her schedule allows.

Mary received her Bachelors of Music Education from the University of Central Oklahoma and a Masters of Musical Arts in Clarinet Performance from Arizona State University where she studied with Dr. Robert Spring. She has two children, Jack and Amelia, and lives in Tulsa with her husband Brent where they are enjoying their “empty nest” season of life.