 In demand as a conductor, clinician, and guest lecturer, Andrew Gekoskie is the Artistic Director and conductor of the Langley Wind Symphony and Langley Symphony Band as well as the Performing Arts Department Chair for Langley HS. With over 35 years as a performing pianist, Mr. Gekoskie also holds the position of Director of Music position at St. Leo The Great in the West Virginia panhandle. He is also Music Director of Northern Virginia's Winchester Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Orchestra Viva! Chamber Orchestra. With over 22 years conducting experience on the concert podium, Mr. Gekoskie most recently held the position of Supervisor of Music for the Angleton Independent School District in Angleton, Texas and has conducted bands and orchestra through the US and Europe. Throughout his career, Mr. Gekoskie has been recognized by colleagues, students and leading professionals alike. He has been a guest on National Public Radio's "Desert Island Disks", published in School Band and Orchestra Magazine, and has produced educational concerts including performances by the Hartt Symphony, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the University of Michigan Symphony Band, Dennis DiBlasio Quartet, Chris Vadala Quartet and the Hartt Wind Symphony. In 2004, Mr. Gekoskie was presented the National Band Association's "Citation of Excellence".
In April 2004, Mr. Gekoskie conducted the Langley Wind Symphony was the featured high school concert band at the MENC Biennial National Convention, in Minneapolis, MN as well as recently performing at the 2005 Bands of America National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis. In June of 2003, under Mr. Gekoskie's direction, the Langley Wind Symphony and the Langley Symphonic Band were selected to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City, as part of the MidAmerica Production's "Ensemble Debut Series". In 2007 the Langley Wind Symphony returned to Carnegie Hall as a feature performer for the World Projects International Band and Orchestra Festival. In 2007 Gekoskie conducted the Wind Symphony as the featured ensemble for the WIBC (Western International Band Conference) in Seattle, WA.
Mr. Gekoskie's experiences have taken him from Pennsylvania to Texas and now here in Virginia. He is the former Director of Bands at Cumberland Valley High School in Pennsylvania. Under his tenure, the bands attained wide-spread recognition and performed at two major MENC Conventions: the 1999 MENC Eastern Division Conference in New York City, and the Pennsylvania State Music Educators Convention in Valley Forge, PA. Prior to his genure at Cumberland Valley, Mr. Gekoskie held the Director of Bands position at Northwestern Lehigh High School and South Williamsport High School. While at Northwestern Lehigh, Mr. Gekoskie built the program by doubling its size while achieving numerous awards. One of the highlights of Mr. Gekoskie's tenure at Northwestern was the Northwestern Lehigh HS Marching Band being named the 1996 Bands of America Grand National Class A Marching Band Champions in Indianapolis, IN. In demand as a marching band consultant and adjudicator, Mr. Gekoskie has judged marching bands and drum corps throughout the country including contests for BOA, DCI, OMEA, VBODA, USSBA, state and independent contests.
Mr. Gekoskie is the founder and former Music Director and conductor of the Lehigh Valley Youth Wind Symphony and former Assistant Conductor of the Sparta Symphony Orchestra in New Jersey. He has also served as the Resident Conductor/Music Director for Campus Music Festivals and as a clinician and guest conductor for festivals throughout the country.
A graduate of Susquehanna University, Mr. Gekoskie has continued his studies in conducting at the Juilliard School of Music, the Hartt School of Music, Butler University, Duquesne University, Shenandoah Conservatory and Boston University.
Mr. Gekoskie has studied throughout the country with a wide range of conductors including: Stanley DeRusha, former conductor of the Bogata Symphony Orchestra in South America; Vincent LaSelva, Music Director of the New York City Grand Opera; H. Robert Reynolds (retired), Professor of Conducting/Director of Bands at the University of Michigan; Craig Kirchoff, Professor of Conducting/Director of Bands at the University of Minnesota; Robert Cameron, Professor of Conducting and Ensembles at Duquesne University; Allan McMurray, Professor of Conducting/Director of Bands at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
For additional information, please visit www.andrewgekoskie.com
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