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EAU GALLIE MARCHING COMMODORES 2009-10 BAND STAFF
THOMAS SINGLETARY Thomas Singletary is a native of Statesboro, Georgia. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Florida State University where he was under the direction of James Croft, Bentley Shellahamer, and Robert Sheldon. Mr. Singletary also holds a Master of Music from the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana where he studied conducting with Donald Schleicher and James Keene. Mr. Singletary taught band at Albany (GA) Middle School from 1992-95 and was appointed Director of Bands at Eau Gallie High School in 1996. The band program at Eau Gallie has been recognized as an outstanding program at many Florida Bandmasters District and State Festivals and has performed on several occasions at the National Adjudicators Invitational, where the band received the Festival Honor Award in Washington, DC in 2004. The Eau Gallie Symphonic Band will perform at the National Band and Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2009. Mr. Singletary's marching band arrangements have been performed by the University of Illinois Marching Illini and the Florida State University Marching Chiefs. Mr. Singletary is a member of Music Educators National Conference, Florida Bandmasters Association, and Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity.
LAURA SINGLETARY
Mrs. Singletary has presented clinics at the Florida Bandmasters Association summer convention on two occasions, addressing the unique qualities of a middle school band program and subjects such as classroom management, motivation, and instruction. In 2006, Mrs. Singletary was selected as the Teacher of the Year for Johnson Middle School, and was further selected as one of the eight finalists for Teacher of the Year for the Brevard County School District. Most recently, Mrs. Singletary was selected as the conductor for the Florida All-State Middle School Band for 2009.
VERONICA CURRAN Veronica Curran is in her first year of teaching at Eau Gallie High School. She graduated from Florida State University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Music Education. While at FSU, she studied trombone with Dr. John Drew and was a member of the Concert and Symphonic Bands. Her last semester at FSU, Veronica had the opportunity to be rehearsal assistant to world renowned composer James Curnow during the 2008 Tri-State Festival. She holds active memberships in the Music Educators National Conference, the Florida Music Educators Association, and the Florida Bandmasters Association.
BOBBY
BLUM Bobby Blum is an active educator, performer, composer and clinician throughout Florida. Bobby is originally from Orlando, Florida and now lives in Melbourne, Florida with his wife Gevonne and daughter Riley. He is a graduate of Lake Mary High School and Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. While at Rollins he earned a B.A. in Music Performance and studied with Beth Gottlieb. As an educator and arranger, he has worked with many middle and high school music programs throughout the state. His private students consistently perform in county and state honor bands, solo and ensemble festivals, drum and bugle corps, local and state percussion festivals and summer music camps. Many of his students have gone on to major in music at the university level. Several of his former students are now percussion instructors across Florida.
Bobby Blum has been the Director of Percussion at Eau Gallie High School for nine years. Under his direction, Eau Gallie has earned numerous awards. His marching percussion ensemble has won the "High Percussion Award" three times at the Crown Jewel Marching Festival in Vero Beach, Florida. The Eau Gallie High School percussion ensemble performed at the USF Marimba Festival in 2005 and the Microsoft Global Business Convention in Atlanta, Georgia in 2004. Bobby is a much sought after clinician and judge. He has judged at both the district and state level for Solo and Ensemble and for several marching band contests. He has presented percussion seminars for local band directors and at the FMEA Summer Convention in 2004.
JENNIFER CORTEZ Jennifer Cortez is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi where she received a Baccalaureate in Mathematics with a Minor in Computer Science and a Baccalaureate in Educational Psychology. Formerly a mathematics teacher for Brevard County Schools, Mrs. Cortez is presently an aerospace software test engineer at Kennedy Space Center. She was Color Guard Captain for the USM Pride Marching Band and is a Drum Corps International Alumnus. A mother of twin-teenage daughters and a second grade son, Mrs. Cortez has 23 years of Color Guard Choreographer experience and 19 years Color Guard Coaching experience. She has been the Color Guard Director for the Eau Gallie High School Color Guard for 9 years.
DAN JOHNSON
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Mrs.
Laura Singletary is a native of Valdosta, Georgia and a graduate of Valdosta High School. She is in her tenth year
as Director of Bands at L.B. Johnson Middle School and Assistant Director at Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Florida.
Laura previously taught band at Edgewood Middle School in Merritt Island, Florida, and at Radium Springs Middle School in
Albany, Georgia. She holds undergraduate degrees in Music Education and Flute Performance from The Florida State
University, and a Master’s degree in Music Education from The University of Illinois. Since 1998, the Johnson band
program has grown in both size and achievement, and the program presently includes 200 students in five course offerings
of instrumental instruction. The band has consistently achieved high honors during the past 8 years, including many
successful performances at District Concert festival and Solo and Ensemble festival. In addition to her duties at
Johnson, Laura is a creative consultant and drill designer for marching bands in the Central Florida area, including the
210-member Eau Gallie High School Marching Commodores. In 2006, Mrs. Singletary helped create the Central Florida
Middle School Jazz Workshop which is specifically designed for middle school jazz ensembles and consists of performance
and clinic opportunities with noted jazz educators from around the country. 
Dan
Johnson is an active educator and performer in the Central Florida area.
He is currently the Director of Percussion at South Lake High School
in Orlando and works as an arranger and instructor at Eau Gallie High
School in Melbourne. Recently, Dan has been the Director of Percussion
at Wesley Chapel HS and on the percussion staff at East Ridge High School,
the percussion instructor for the St. Leo University School of Music,
and as an instructor at “Penny’s Camp.” He is currently a sub for the
Village Beatniks at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and was a Collegiate Musician
for Walt Disney World from 2001-2003. He works actively as a freelance
percussionist in the Orlando and Tampa areas and maintains an active
private lesson studio. Dan was fortunate enough to tour Europe in the
Summer of 2005; performing with the USF Jazztet at various jazz festivals
including North Sea, Montreaux, and Vienne.