Alexander Kaminsky was appointed Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at VanderCook College of Music in 2019 after a highly successful tenure at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. Previous to that, Kaminsky led the band programs at Buchholz High School, Lincoln High School, Auburndale High School, and Cocoa Beach J/S High School, all of which excelled under his direction. He holds degrees from the University of Florida and Indiana University, is active as an adjudicator, and is in demand as a guest conductor/clinician across the country.

Throughout his 30-year career as a high school band director, Kaminsky’s ensembles consistently earned Superior ratings at all levels of evaluation. In addition to earning straight Superior ratings at the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) State Concert Band Assessment for an unprecedented 21 years (the last 11 years with both his first and second bands), he is the only director in the history of the FBA to have had three concert bands from one school earn straight Superior ratings at State, and he achieved this three times (2009, 2018 and 2019).

Kaminsky’s high school bands performed at the Midwest Clinic (2005, 2009, 2014, and 2018), ABA National Convention (2014), CBDNA/NBA Southern Division Conference (2004 and 2014), FMEA State Conference (2014), Music for All National Concert Band Festival (2002 and 2012), and the National Wind Band Festival at Carnegie Hall (2009 and 2018). In 2018, the Stoneman Douglas Wind Symphony was named a Mark of Excellence National Wind Band Honors winner as one of only ten 6A bands in the nation. His marching bands consistently placed in the Florida Marching Band State Championship Finals, winning several FMBC State Championships (including 4 of his last 6 years as a high school band director), as well as being named a finalist band at BOA regional competitions.

Kaminsky has presented his clinic “How Can I Get My Band to Sound Like That” at various conferences and workshops, and his hands-on rehearsal demonstrations for the annual “How To Fix It” series at the FMEA Professional Development Conference received high acclaim with over 900 attendees in 2019. He has been awarded the National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence numerous times and has been recognized with several achievement awards for education including Florida’s 2019 FMEA Secondary Music Educator of the Year Award, FBA Oliver Hobbs Award, FBA Andrew J. Crew Award, National Honor Roll’s Outstanding American Teacher, Nobel Educator of Distinction, Teacher of the Year, and is listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

Kaminsky is a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician, an elected member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association and the American School Band Directors’ Association, and also holds memberships in CBDNA, NBA, and Phi Beta Mu. He has served on many state and national committees, currently serving on the ABA Sousa/Ostwald Award Committee and the ABA School Bands Task Force, and is the NBA National Student Chapters Advisor. Kaminsky is a National Board Certified Teacher and has been featured in several periodicals including The Instrumentalist, Teaching Music, Halftime Magazine, School Band & Orchestra Magazine’s “50 Directors Who Make A Difference” and Home Magazine’s “12 Exceptional Educators,” and most recently, Inspiring a Love of Music published by GIA Publications.

Mark Poole

Mark Poole, originally from Mesquite, Texas, is in his fourth year at Lone Star High School. The Lone Star High School Band has had great success at the local, state, and national level. The Lone Star Wind Symphony was a TMEA Honor Band Finalist in 2019, placing 6th overall in the entire State. All 3 concert bands are sweepstakes award winners, and the Wind Symphony was recognized as a Mark of Excellence National Wind Band Honors Recipient in 2019 and 2021. The LSHS Marching band returned to the State Marching Contest in 2021 and 2019 as a finalist. The marching band has been a finalist at every local competition, 2nd place at the Little Elm Classic on the Lake (2018, 2019), and was awarded Grand Champion at the Denton Golden Triangle contest in 2018 and 2021. The LSHS Band was named a BOA Regional Finalist in 2021.

Prior to Lone Star, he was the Director of Bands at Forney High School for 12 years. Under his tenure, the Forney band had great success at the local, state, and national level. The marching band made appearances at the Texas State Marching Contest 5 consecutive times (2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017). The band was awarded “Best in Class” at the Mesquite Marching Festival 8 times and numerous Grand Championships at the Mesquite Marching Contest, DeSoto Marching Classic, Mansfield Preview of Champions, and the Frisco Centennial Marching Contest. The Wind Ensemble was awarded consistent Sweepstakes, several “Best in Class” awards, named a 4-time National Wind Band Honors recipient, 2-time Grand Champion of the Dallas Winds Invitational, advanced to the TMEA Honor band Area Contest in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017, and was named a TMEA State Honor band finalist in 2013 and 2017 (5th overall).

Prior to his appointment at Forney, Mr. Poole was the Director of Bands at Nimitz High School in Irving, Texas, Director of Bands for the Jasper Independent School District, and at Southwood High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. His bands received numerous sweepstakes awards and enjoyed great success at both the region and state levels (Texas and Louisiana). In 2003, the JHS Symphonic band was awarded the OPS (Outstanding Performance Series) award from ATSSB.

Mr. Poole received a degree in music education and saxophone performance from the University of North Texas in Denton. While there, he performed with many top performing organizations in both the classical and jazz idioms, serving as a principal player and section leader in many of those groups. He was under the tutelage of fine instructors such as Robert Winslow, Dennis Fisher, Tim Ishi, Jim Riggs, and Eric Nestler. While obtaining his undergraduate degree, Mr. Poole taught private saxophone and clarinet in the D/FW area. After completing his undergraduate degree, Mr. Poole graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern State University the following year, receiving his Master’s degree in conducting. As a graduate assistant, he was director of the Symphony Band, jazz band, basketball pep-band, marching band assistant, and assisted and conducted the Wind Symphony. He also served as a private instructor and arranger for the Spirit of Northwestern Marching Band.

In addition to his teaching, Mr. Poole has performed professionally with groups such as the Texas Wind Symphony, Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, Natchitoches Symphony Orchestra, Roy Clark, Ben Vereen, Bill Causey Big Band, Pete Peterson Big Band, Just Friends Big Band, and many other groups in the DFW area. Mr. Poole also serves as a clinician/adjudicator.

Mr. Poole currently resides in Little Elm, TX with his wife Cyndi.