He has conducted all state and honor choirs and has been in residence at universities across the United States and abroad. He also leads professional development and organizational change initiatives for music focused organizations throughout the United States. His professional educational workshops focus on assessment in the choral classroom, building classroom community and culture, rehearsal strategies, choral conducting techniques and shape note singing in the African American community. Dr. Fox conducted the 2019 National ACDA Middle School/Junior High Mixed Honor Choir and traveled to South Africa as a 2019 ACDA International Conductor Exchange Fellow where he led choral workshops and rehearsals in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Potchefstroom. 

As a baritone soloist, Dr. Fox has collaborated with various organizations; among them are the Arkansas Symphony, Lansing Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Columbia Chorale, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha Symphonic Chorus, University of Missouri, Michigan State University, Webster University and the Espaço Cultural (Brasilia, Brazil). He can be heard singing selections from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess on the compact disc In This Hid Clearing, available on the Naxos Classical Music label. He most recently the baritone soloist in Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony with the Michigan State University Symphonic Orchestra and Choral Union.

As an author, Dr. Fox has written articles for many organizations and his compositions and arrangements are published by Hal Leonard, Music Spoke, Hinshaw and Brilee Music. His book, Yes You Can: A Band Director’s Guide to Teaching Choirs is published by Carl Fischer. He launched The Derrick Fox Choral Series with Music Spoke to publish works by and about marginalized and minoritized people. Dr. Fox also curates the Foundation in Song Choral series in partnership with Hinshaw Music to publish music that supports pedagogical goals while remaining accessible to choirs of all levels. He has cultivated educational partnerships many musical organizations, among them Hal Leonard, Sounding Spirit and the Country Music Association Foundation. He was the creator, writer and host of the KVNO’s radio show Reflections of Us, a show focused on amplifying diverse voice in the classical music. Dr. Fox is a Past President of the Midwestern Region of the American Choral Directors Association.

Dean is a Vancouver-based pianist, composer, and educator originally from Sylvan Lake, Alberta. His Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Composition was completed after a unique educational trajectory that included Red Deer College, Berklee College of Music, and Capilano University. Currently, Dean enjoys a busy career gigging within the local jazz and improvised music scenes as a sideman with a number of established groups including jazz bands, wedding events, choral groups and theatre and dance productions. In recent years his performing included international tours to the United States, UK, and India. Besides playing, Dean is an accomplished composer and arranger. His arrangements for horn groups and string ensembles can be heard on a number of his peers’ albums and performances. His small ensemble and 14-piece jazz orchestra under the shared name of STRANGER FRIENDS are his creative outlets that explore his personal compositional and improvisational stylings.

Dijana Ihas (Dee-yana Ihas) was recently appointed Professor of Music Education (Strings) at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance. She brings to the University of Oregon decades of experience as a music educator whose teaching has shaped the musical lives of students across all levels of education and contributed to the advancement of music and string education at the state, regional, and national levels. Her commitment to undergraduate research has guided dozens of students through scholarly projects, conference presentations, and other professional experiences. Her own scholarship includes a collaboratively authored book on string pedagogy as well as numerous articles published in peer-reviewed and professional journals. A violist, Ihas also brings extensive performance and conducting experience, including work with professional orchestras and the direction of school and collegiate orchestras.

Prior to her appointment at the University of Oregon, Dr. Ihas taught, served, and conducted research at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. In 2012, she founded the Pacific University String Project (PUSP), an after-school program designed to provide affordable, high-quality string instruction to school-aged students while creating a teaching laboratory in which undergraduate music education students could develop their teaching skills under close faculty supervision. The first and only program of its kind in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, PUSP received the 2018 Outstanding String Project Award from the American String Teachers Association and the National String Project Consortium. In 2019, the program expanded into the larger Music Education Project, encompassing three areas: the Choral Project, Band Project, and String Project.

Before entering higher education, Dr. Ihas taught strings, orchestra, and choir at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in Arizona and Oregon for seven years. During her tenure at Sprague High School in Salem, Oregon, the advanced string orchestra, Camerata, won the Oregon String Orchestra State Championship for three consecutive years (2009–2011) and received the national Mark of Excellence award in 2009 and 2010. The school’s intermediate orchestra also participated successfully in festivals and competitions. In 2011, her final year of public-school teaching, Sprague’s full symphony orchestra, co-directed by Dr. Ihas, won the Oregon Full Orchestra State Championship.

Dr. Ihas’ current research focuses on the cross-national examination of music teacher preparation and music learning opportunities. Her recent research has centered on the examination of historical and contemporary string pedagogy, mentoring undergraduate researchers, and advocating for greater equity in access to music education. Using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, the significance of her research lies in exploring under-examined areas of music education and offering valuable insights into the pursuit of teaching excellence. Dr. Ihas’ scholarly work has been disseminated in several esteemed academic journals, including the Journal of String Research, the American String Teacher Journal, the Oregon Music Educators Journal, CUR Quarterly, Innovative Higher Education, Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, and the National Federation of State High School Music Association Journal.

Dr. Ihas initiated, shaped, and guided the development and writing of Teaching Violin, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass: Historical and Modern Pedagogical Practices (Routledge, 2023), which she coauthored with Dr. Miranda Wilson and Prof. Gaelen McCormick. The book represents more than two decades of research into the history and development of string pedagogy. Throughout this work, Dr. Ihas undertook extensive formal and informal study and training in the major historical and contemporary approaches to string teaching, often revisiting these traditions as her research and teaching evolved. This sustained engagement with the field informed both the book’s examination of three centuries of string pedagogy and its application of historical and contemporary pedagogical principles to modern string teaching.

While living in her native country Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr. Ihas performed in professional capacity as a viola player with Sarajevo’s four professional orchestras: Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra, Sarajevo Symphony Orchestra, Sarajevo Opera Orchestra, and Sarajevo Chamber Orchestra. She was also the viola player of the Sarajevo String Quartet, a professional group, which for its unprecedented efforts in the preservation of human dignity during the Bosnian War (1992-1995), captured the close attention of media at the international level. This group of four intrepid musicians was the subject of inspirational stories in dozens of journals around the globe, and its artistic endeavors during the siege of Sarajevo were captured in a chapter of the book Sarajevo Roses: War Memoir of a Peacekeeper and in the documentary Sarajevo Strings. The group received the highest honor that the Bosnian government can bestow upon its citizens.

Dr. Ihas’ educational background includes a PhD in Music Education and String Pedagogy from the University of Oregon, Master’s Degree of Music Education from the University of Arizona, Master’s of Fine Arts in Viola Performance from the University of California in Irvine, and Bachelor Degree in Viola Performance from the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She also holds the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Conducting from Messiah University, Pennsylvania, and the Postgraduate Certificate in Music Education from the University of Chichester, United Kingdom.

For her merits, Dr. Ihas has received numerous awards. Most recently, she received the Outstanding Long-Term Achievement in String Research Award (2025) by the American String Teachers Association. She has also previously been awarded the Oregon Music Education Association Outstanding Music Educator (2021) for her dedicated service to promoting high-quality music education at the state level, Pacific University’s Faculty Achievement Award (2018) for her dedicated work with Pacific University’s music department and String Project, and Pacific University’s Junior Faculty Award (2015) for her dedication to excellence in teaching, scholarship, and creative work.

Juno-nominated saxophonist Ryan Oliver honed his craft living on Canada’s west coast, and in Amsterdam, Toronto and New York. He is one of Canada’s most in-demand saxophonists, recently releasing Strive!, featuring jazz legend Victor Lewis. Over the last 15 years, Ryan has toured the world with legendary Canadian group, The Shuffle Demons. He is a member of Juno-award-winning Aboriginal rock performer Derek Miller’s band, and appears on Miller’s most recent recording, featuring Stevie Ray Vaughn’s rhythm section Double Trouble and Willie Nelson. Ryan is also a member of the house band for Miller’s television series, airing on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. The Cookers, a group he co-leads, has toured extensively throughout Canada, appearing on numerous recordings and broadcasts including live video broadcasts for CBC. He has received numerous Canada and Ontario Arts Council grants for touring, recording and education and was nominated for the 2013 Prix De Jazz at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Ryan holds a Masters degree in music from Rutgers University, where he led the undergraduate big band, and has taught saxophone and ensemble clinics at universities and schools throughout the world for over 20 years. He currently teaches at the jazz program at Vancouver Island University and runs the jazz and concert bands at Christ Church Cathedral School in Victoria. He has worked as an adjudicator for the Fraser MacPherson Scholarship and the Victoria, West Coast and Powell River Jazz Festivals. In 2017, Oliver took over as the Executive Director for the Comox Valley Youth Music Centre (CYMC).

Dr. Scott MacLennan is an active music director, adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor who frequently works with ensembles, schools, honour groups, and festivals in Canada. He has been the Music Director of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in the School of Music at the University of British Columbia, Music Director of the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Wind Ensemble, and Music Director at the Byng Arts Academy in the Performing and Visual Arts in Vancouver, B.C. Presently, he is an Adjunct Professor in Music Education at UBC. For over 30 years, he taught bands and orchestras at all levels from elementary to post-secondary and conducted his award-winning ensembles in various locations throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, China, the United States, and Canada. His ensembles have performed in such notable venues as Carnegie Hall, New York, USA, and Santa Maria della Pieta (Vivaldi’s Church) in Venice, Italy. He guest conducted the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra on two separate occasions and worked with honour groups in BC and Saskatchewan. As a champion of new wind band repertoire, Dr. MacLennan conducted the Canadian premieres of compositions by such notable composers as Johan de Meji and Frank Ticheli.
He holds a Bachelor of Music (1988) and a Bachelor of Education (1990) from UBC, a Master of Music (2010) in Conducting (Wind Band) from Sam Houston State University, Texas, and a Ph.D. (2015) from UBC. He studied conducting with Ken Hsieh, Morihiro Okabe, and Wayne Toews and participated in numerous conducting master classes given by Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Anthony Maiello, Ralph Hultgren, and Robert Ponto.
As an active music educator, “Dr. Mac” worked for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra to draft and edit curriculum for their VSO Connects (Secondary) program, chaired the BC Music Educator’s Association’s Conference Pulse 2006, and currently sits as a board member of the Chamber Music in the Schools Society. He has presented at various conferences and has articles published in the Canadian Music Educator Journal and Bandworld Magazine. Recently, he contributed to the new GIA publication Winds of the North, A Survey of the Canadian Wind Band Tradition and Repertoire. Dr. MacLennan is a recipient of the BC Music Educators’ Association’s Outstanding Professional Music Educator’s Award in recognition of exemplary commitment, talent, and leadership for music education in British Columbia.