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Mike Steinel
 Mike Steinel is a jazz trumpeter, pianist, composer and arranger. He is presently Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas where he teaches jazz improvisation, pedagogy of jazz improvisation and jazz trumpet. Prior to coming to UNT Mr. Steinel was jazz artist in residence at Bethel College and was on the faculty of Northern Illinois University.
Internationally recognized as a jazz educator Mike is the author of Building a Jazz Vocabulary and Essential Elements for Jazz Ensemble both published by Hal Leonard Music Corporation. Mike is an active clinician and guest artist and has performed throughout the US, Canada and in Europe. He has served on the faculties of Clark Terry Jazz Camp, the Jamey Aebersold Improvisation Camps, the Saskatchewan Summer Jazz Camp and the University of Missouri Summer Jazz Residency. He is the founder and director of the UNT Jazz Combo Workshop and the UNT Jazz Trumpet Workshop.
Mike has performed as soloist at the MENC and IAJE national conventions and at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. His playing experience includes work with Clark Terry, Don Ellis, Bill Evans, Jerry Bergonzi and recordings with the Chicago Jazz Quintet and the Frank Mantooth Big Band. Honors received include an Illinois Arts Council Chairman's Grant and a jazz fellowship grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Mr. Steinel has served as Co-Chair of the Jazz Advisory Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts and holds a BME degree from Emporia State University and a MME degree from the University of North Texas.
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Joe Eckert
 JOE ECKERT has just been appointed as the first full-time Professor of saxophone at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. From 1987-2004, he served as adjunct faculty at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia and assumed full-time duties from 2004-07 as Professor of Saxophone and Director of Jazz Studies. He retired in 2004 from a 20-year career as lead alto saxophonist/woodwind specialist and director for the USAF Band's Airmen of Note in Washington, D.C. Mr. Eckert received his B.M. from Baldwin-Wallace College in saxophone performance and went on to complete graduate and post-graduate studies at the University of North Texas, where he was a member of the world renowned One O'clock Lab Band, principal saxophonist with the Wind Symphony and soloist with the Symphony Orchestra. Prior to joining the Airmen of Note, he was Assistant Professor of Saxophone and Director of Jazz Studies at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia (1981-84), where his ensembles were awarded for their excellence and he received the "Outstanding Teacher Award" for 1982-83.
While with the "Note" he toured extensively across North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. As producer for the "Jazz Heritage Concert Series," he collaborated with some of the great names in jazz to include Louie Bellson, Bob Berg, Randy Brecker, Jimmy Heath, Cleo Laine, David Liebman, Mike Mainieri and Clark Terry. He has also performed with Bob Mintzer, Peter Erskine, Jon Faddis, Bunky Green, J.J. Johnson, Carmen McRae, Sammy Nestico, Tommy Newsom, Red Rodney, Kenny Werner, Paquito D'Rivera, Claudio Roditi, Arturo Sandoval, Dr. Billy Taylor, Joe Williams and many others. As coordinator of the "Jazz Outreach Education Series," he brought the expertise of Airmen of Note to aspiring music students throughout the country. Some of his freelance activities include performances with the Dallas Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra and tours with Liza Minnelli and Nelson Riddle. In the popular music world he has performed with the likes of Lou Rawls, Diana Ross, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Anthony Newley, Natalie Cole and Michael Jackson.
Comfortable in both jazz and classical idioms, he was the only member of the faculty at Shenandoah to have been a guest soloist with the Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble and Brass Quintet. He has served as an adjudicator and clinician at music festivals, high schools, and colleges nationally and internationally. Mr. Eckert's professional affiliations include The American Federation of Musicians, Music Educators National Conference and the International Association for Jazz Education. Mr. Eckert is a Yamaha-performing artist/clinician.
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Dr. Lou Fischer
 Dr. Lou Fischer is professor of music, jazz activities coordinator, and jazz ensemble director at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio where he teaches American Pop/Jazz Theory, Jazz Arranging and directs the Fusion Band and Award winning Big Band. He is currently in his second term as U.S. Representative/Executive Board member for the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE), past-president of the Ohio chapter, and has served IAJE in many other capacities throughout his thirty-two years of service.
As a Yamaha performing artist, playing the Silent Bass exclusively, Lou has been an extremely active performer in the entertainment industry for forty-three years, having performed on over 2,000+ commercials, 50+ Broadway shows, including touring worldwide with The Crusaders, Airto, Charlie Byrd, Bill Watrous, Red Rodney, Rich Matteson, Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Emmy Lou Harris, plus the orchestras of Woody Herman, Louis Bellson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Les Hopper, Tex Beneke, and Jimmy Dorsey, among many others.
Lou has four album releases under his own name as a bandleader. Having performed on over 200+ recordings, he is also featured as a founding member of the group "Beaux J Poo Boo" on All Things Are New; The Manne We Love: Gershwin Revisited (Steve Houghton); A Time For Love and Bone-I-fied (Bill Watrous); The Joy (Shelly Berg); A Miracle (The Frank Mantooth Big Band); and High Wire (Sunny Wilkinson).
In July 2007, recently completing a twelve-day tour to Australia, Dr. Fischer has appeared as a performer, clinician and/or director at jazz festivals in France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, England, Holland, Canada, Japan, Korea, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Mexico, and at over three hundred high schools/universities in the United States. He recently conducted the all state jazz ensembles of Texas, North Dakota, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Colorado and Louisiana. Having acted as faculty at various camps and the IAJE Teacher Training Institutes over the years, "Dr. Lou" is currently jazz division head for the Music For All/Bands of America Summer Symposium.
A music publisher for 13 years, Fischer now publishes his compositions with Walrus Music. He is co-author of Rhythm Section Workshop for Jazz Band Directors (Alfred); Stylistic Etudes in the Jazz Idiom (Hal Leonard); and has contributed various articles to the Jazz Educators Journal and The Instrumentalist regarding jazz pedagogy. As a composer, Fischer has penned commissions for the jazz ensembles of Louisiana Tech, Illinois Wesleyan, and Ball State Universities, and has completed a four-movement symphonic work titled Shades of Winter, premeired by the Capital-Bexley Community Orchestra in 2003.
A member of the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band (1971-1974), Fischer earned a bachelor of music in jazz performance, magna cum laude, and a master of arts in composition with honors from the University of Denver. He holds a doctor of arts in bass performance, with a secondary in theory and composition from Ball State University in Indiana.
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