A Complete Guide to Band Warmups

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 Jr/Sr 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.  In 2024, Kaminsky founded the VanderCook Band Director Summer Workshop and most recently presented “The Kaminsky Method” at the 2024 Midwest Clinic to a standing-room-only crowd. 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 including the ABA Sousa/Ostwald Award Committee, was previously the NBA Student Chapters Advisor, and is currently Chair of the ABA School Bands Task Force.  Kaminsky is a National Board Certified Teacher and has been featured in several publications including The Instrumentalist, Teaching Music, Halftime Magazine, School Band & Orchestra Magazine’s “50 Directors Who Make A Difference,” Home Magazine’s “12 Exceptional Educators,” and most recently, Inspiring a Love of Music published by GIA Publications.

Bonnie Campbell received a doctor of music degree in music literature and clarinet performance from Indiana University. She also holds degrees from Yale University and Roberts Wesleyan College (summa cum laude) and has attended the Banff School of the Arts. Her teachers include James Campbell, Keith Wilson, Margaret Quackenbush, and Alan Hacker.

Dr. Campbell has performed guest recitals at colleges and universities across the country. Her orchestral experience includes performances at the Evian Festival (France) as well as at the opening ceremonies of the Bastille Opera House in Paris. She has been a member of the South Bend Symphony and the Camerata Chamber Orchestra of Bloomington, an ensemble jointly comprised of faculty and students from the Indiana University School of Music. She has performed in New York City at Merkin Hall and at Lincoln Center, where she played the Mozart Clarinet Quintet as part of the Mozart Bicentennial Celebration.

In Chicago, Dr. Campbell performs frequently at the Cultural Center. She has also been heard on WFMT’s Live from Studio One and on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series. She is a founding member of the Daedalus Duo and Vermillion (with pianist Diana Schmück and cellist Judy Stone), with whom she performed at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest 2007 held in Vancouver, BC. At the invitation of the International Clarinet Association, she presented the world premier performance of Robert Kritz’s Diaspora Dances at ClarinetFest 2009 in Oporto, Portugal.