Ben Zolkower
Director

benjamin.zolkower@mnps.org

Ben Zolkower currently serves as the Band Director at Hillwood High School in Nashville, Tennessee, a position he has held since 2014. Under his direction, the symphonic band, marching band, and percussion ensemble have earned superior ratings at competitions and performance assessments across middle Tennessee. The band has traveled for performances in Chicago, Cincinnati, and Washington, D.C., and has accepted multiple invitations to perform at the Tennessee Music Education Association's State Concert Festival.

Mr. Zolkower is a graduate of Hillwood High School and went on to earn his bachelor's degree in instrumental music education from Middle Tennessee State University. He has toured and performed with the Spirit of Atlanta Drum & Bugle Corps and the eight-time WGI world champion Music City Mystique Indoor Percussion Ensemble. Mr. Zolkower has also performed with MTSU at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. In 2016 and 2019, he was recognized by the Country Music Association Foundation as a Music Teacher of Excellence.

Mr. Zolkower has served as the Conference Equipment Coordinator for the Tennessee Music Education Association's Professional Development Conference since 2014 and as the Equipment Coordinator for the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association’s Mid-State Honor Ensembles in 2017. Additional professional affiliations include the Percussive Arts Society, National Association for Music Education, and Tennessee Bandmasters Association.
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​Dylan Schuman
Assistant Director

dylan.schuman@mnps.org

Mr. Schuman is a trumpeter, composer, and educator raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and residing in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Schuman received his B.M. in Jazz/Commercial Trumpet Performance from Towson University. While attending Towson, he was an active member of the Baltimore jazz community. He had the honor to perform throughout the Baltimore City area with a myriad of ensembles, including the “Out of Your Head Collective,” a series that brought Baltimore improvisers together to perform completely improvised sets. Mr. Schuman is the director and founder of the 19-piece Screaming Art Large Ensemble. The ensemble released its debut album “The Chronicles of Aryeh” in 2019, for which Mr. Schuman was awarded the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award for composition. He is currently working on his third album.

Mr. Schuman Graduated from Austin Peay State University in the spring of 2020 with a Masters in Music Education. While attending APSU, he was the Music Theory Tutoring Lab coordinator working with students from “Intro to Theory” to “Grad Analysis.” As an active educator, Mr. Schuman has worked with students in various settings, including the Litchfield Jazz Camp, Baltimore Symphony sponsored Orchkids, and masterclasses at local schools. His teaching style is student interest focused with an emphasis on creativity, improvisation, composition, and inclusion of a variety of genres.

Beth Bauer
Guard Coordinator

beth.bauer@thehillwoodband.org​

Beth Bauer is a native of Brentwood, TN. She was a flautist and color guard member at Brentwood High School, and was part of their inaugural winter guard in 1994. After high school, she performed with the color guard of Vanderbilt University as well as with Music City Mystique’s Winter Guard and Indoor Drumline, earning a WGI percussion gold medal in 1998. She went on to perform with Nuendo’s Color Guard of Chattanooga, TN, and aged out as guard captain at Chimeras Open from Murfreesboro, TN.
 
Mrs. Bauer has an extensive amount of color guard teaching experience in the Middle Tennessee area, including with Waverly Central High School, Father Ryan High School, and Ravenwood High School, where she began the winter guard program. She holds a B.S.W. in Social Work and works as a Specialist for the National Sexual Assault Coalition Resource Sharing Project which provides resources and support nationwide. Mrs. Bauer is an experienced trainer on sexual assault, domestic violence, and trauma and has been a guest speaker at many universities and conferences. Mrs. Bauer's passion is teaching and helping people lead healthy, fulfilling lives.​

Caleb Holifield
Guard | Movement

caleb.holifield@thehillwoodband.org

Caleb Holifield discovered his passion for color guard in high school, where he marched the Chimeras and Brentwood High School winterguards. He spent three seasons in the guard of the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps. While attending Boston University, Mr. Holifield marched for two winters at St. Ann's, winning back-to-back WGI silver medals. After college, he moved to Washington, DC where he joined an amateur dance group, the DC Cowboys; as a member of the team, Mr. Holifield competed on America's Got Talent and performed on the road across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Mr. Holifield recently moved back to Middle Tennessee and is excited to share his passion for performing with Hillwood.
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Jennifer Stark
Guard | Fitness

jennifer.stark@thehillwoodband.org

Jennifer Stark graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan University where she earned degrees in English and history. She worked in a myriad of roles from 2013 to 2018 specializing in tailoring curriculum to students with learning differences and helping students with sensory regulation. In 2018, Mrs. Stark took the plunge from academia to delve deeper into movement instruction and became a full-time Pilates instructor. She trained through Balanced Body and earned her certificate of completion for their comprehensive teaching training. Mrs. Stark teaches at two studios located in the Southeast part of Nashville.

Prior to becoming a guard instructor, Mrs. Stark gave private lessons for several years. Currently, she teaches both private lessons and group classes in Pilates. Her Pilates training has gifted Mrs. Stark a greater understanding of movement and the human body which she uses in order to empower the guard to understand and control their own bodies on and off the field or floor.

Mrs. Stark performed for eighteen years in a myriad of disciplines, including baton, dance, guard, percussion, and theater. As a student at Ravenwood High School, she performed and assumed student leadership responsibilities with both the color guard and winter guard. Mrs. Stark went on to march with Eklipse Winter Guard in 2012 and was an active participant in the dance and theater programs during her time at Tennessee Wesleyan University.

Mrs. Stark is excited to return for her fifth year teaching within both the Color Guard and Winter Guard programs of The Hillwood High School Band. Mrs. Stark enjoys not only being able to pass on her knowledge of guard techniques, performance, and movement principles but fostering personal growth of the members through the life skills that the activity brings to light.
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Josh Stark
Audio Engineer | Woodwinds

josh.stark@thehillwoodband.org

Josh Stark is proud to call Montgomery, AL home. He is a graduate of Troy University, earning his degree in Music Industry as a saxophonist and audio engineer, with a minor in Technical Theater. He currently works as an Audio Engineer at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

From 2013 through 2016, Mr. Stark served on the staff of the St. James School Marching Band in Montgomery, AL as an audio engineer and sound designer, and also assisted with woodwind and percussion instruction.  During this time, the St. James School Marching Band earned several Bands of America Class A Regional and Super Regional titles. In 2015, Mr. Stark joined the Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps as the Audio Engineer Intern.  In 2016, he was hired on as the corps’ Audio Engineer and continued his involvement with the corps in 2017 as a consultant. 

While enrolled at Troy University, Mr. Stark served as Chief Engineer of the Music Industry Department and worked on the Electrics Shop Staff for the Department of Theater & Dance. Three productions for which he designed and engineered earned Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival nominations in Sound Design.

In addition to his job with TPAC, Mr. Stark currently works as a Freelance Audio Engineer, Designer, and Consultant. He is also very passionate about educating others, especially young teens and adults, watching them learn and grow to be successful people.
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Matthew Tichenor
Visual

matthew.tichenor@thehillwoodband.org​