ASU Conducting workshop

Director of Bands
Associate Professor of Music
Arizona State University

Jason Caslor, an educational clinician for Conn-Selmer, directs the wind ensemble, mentors graduate conducting students and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting courses. From 2015-19, Caslor served as assistant professor and associate director of bands and orchestras at ASU. From 2010-15, he served as assistant professor of instrumental conducting at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada where he conducted the wind ensemble and oversaw the instrumental conducting programs. Caslor spent three seasons as resident conductor with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra where he conducted more than 75 concerts (including a CBC Radio national broadcast) and recorded a full-length, internationally distributed CD with Canadian blues artist Rita Chiarelli. Recipient of an “Excellence in Teaching Award” from Memorial University’s Students’ Union in 2012, He spent several years as an instrumental and choral instructor in the public school system . Caslor has conducted the National Youth Band of Canada, the South Dakota All State Band, the South Dakota Intercollegiate Band and the Alberta Wind Symphony and has presented his work at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the WASBE International Conference, and the CBDNA National Conference., He completed his doctorate in conducting at ASU, a master's in conducting from the University of Manitoba and dual bachelor's in music and education from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Associate Director of Bands
Assistant Professor of Music
Arizona State University

Jamal Duncan joined the faculty of Arizona State University in Fall of 2020 as associate director of bands and assistant professor of instrumental conducting. His primary responsibilities are conducting the Wind Symphony and teaching classes in conducting. A winner of the 2022 American Prize in Band/Wind Ensemble conducting, Duncan has conducted and adjudicated ensembles of all levels throughout the U.S. and internationally. Duncan is also committed to programming music that tells the stories of different cultures with an intentional focus on the diverse composers who tell these stories. Duncan received the doctor of musical arts in wind conducting and a master of music in wind conducting degrees from Michigan State University where he studied with Dr. Kevin L. Sedatole. Duncan received a bachelor of music degree from the University of Michigan with a dual emphasis in clarinet performance and music education.

Director of Bands
Assistant Professor of Music
Michigan State University

Kevin Sedatole serves as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the Michigan State University College of Music. At MSU, Professor Sedatole serves as administrator of the entire band program totaling over 700 students that includes the Wind Symphony, Symphony Band, Concert Band, Chamber Winds, Campus Bands, Spartan Marching Band and Spartan Brass. He also guides the graduate wind-conducting program in addition to conducting the MSU Wind Symphony. Sedatole has conducted performances for the College Band Directors National Association, American Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, and the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, as well as performances in Carnegie Hall. He has conducted across the United States and Europe. 

Director, ASU Philharmonia
 

Julie Desbordes is the Music Director of the Philharmonia Orchestra at Arizona State University, where she also teaches conducting.

Multidimensional conductor and educator Dr. Desbordes leads ensembles in the Americas, Asia, and her native France. Music director of the Philharmonia Orchestra at Arizona State University, where she teaches conducting, she is also music director of two additional ensembles in greater Phoenix: the Salt River Brass, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestras.

Prior to arriving in Arizona, Dr. Desbordes conducted community and youth orchestras in New York City, among them, the Turtle Bay Youth Orchestra, the Queer Urban Orchestra, and the Chelsea Symphony. With those ensembles, she presented innovative programs that attracted large, enthusiastic audiences. In between her New York commitments, she appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Venezuela, and Cuba

Director of Orchestras
Assistant Professor of Conducting
Arizona State University

Recently appointed Director of Orchestras at Arizona State University,Ccnductor and violinist Alejandro Gómez Guillén is passionate about sharing music in a way that is compelling, uplifting, and educational. Prior to ASU, he has served as assistant conductor with Omaha Symphony, artistic director and conductor of Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, and associate conductor of Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Also an accomplished violinist, Alejandro had a rich musical upbringing as a chorister and violinist in his native Colombia.

Director of Choral Activities
Associate Professor of Choral Conducting
Arizona State University

Frank A. Watkins, an in-demand guest conductor, clinician and educator, is joining the School of Music, Dance and Theatre as associate professor of choral conducting and director of choral activities in fall 2025. Watkins has presented workshops on choral methods at universities throughout the United States and at international, national and state conferences. Choirs under his direction have performed at state and regional conferences and festivals. He led an International Fellows Trip to Dakar, Senegal, to study the use of hip-hop and rap as a form of non-violent political protest. More recently,  Watkins taught with Village Harmony on the island of Corsica off the coast of France.

A native of Omaha, Nebraska, he has taught secondary and collegiate level choral music for more than 20 years, most recently as associate professor of choral music education at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.