Our Team

Dr. Brendan Ige
President

Dr. Brendan Ige (any/all) earned his undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University and his Master’s and Doctorate from the University of Michigan. He is currently teaching tuba and euphonium on faculty at Eastern Michigan University and Madonna University and regularly performs in the Toledo Symphony. Dr. Ige is an avid chamber musician winning and being in the finals of multiple chamber competitions, most notably, the Coltman Chamber Music Competition. His playing, composing and singing can be heard on his most recent album Starlust. He considers his biggest achievement the positive family environment present in his home.

Evan Zegiel
Secretary

Evan Zegiel (he/him) holds BM and MM degrees from the University of Michigan. He is currently pursuing a DMA at Michigan State University as a University Distinguished Fellow. Evan is in demand as an orchestral tubist, performing regularly with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. He is also an award-winning soloist, winning seven competitions in the last eight years, including the Student and Artist Divisions of the Falcone Festival competitions. Additionally, he is an accomplished composer. His piece for unaccompanied tuba, Climate Strike, won the Tuba category of the 2020 Leonard Falcone International Tuba/Euphonium Festival's Call for Scores, and many of his works are available from Cimarron Music Press.

Akshat Jain
Treasurer

Akshat Jain (he/him) is an artist committed to civic practices through the field of music. He serves as Tuba/Euphonium faculty at Merit School of Music, as an Assistant Band Director at Proviso Math and Science Academy while maintaining a private studio. His talents have led him to perform with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and Aspen Music Festival. He serves as an executive director for the Chicago Freedom Ensemble, is the Treasurer for TESJI, and a cofounder of the Illinois Low Brass Institute. He believes that being a versatile musician is integral to succeeding as a 21-Century musician. 

Heather Ewer
Director of Outreach

Heather Ewer (she/her) is a passionate music educator and performer. She holds degrees in music and education from Western Michigan University and Colorado State University, and is in her 5th year teaching middle school band (because middle schoolers are actually the world’s greatest humans- no joke). In 2019, Heather moved to Brooklyn, NY and is now in her second year as the founding band teacher at Achievement First Linden Middle School. She continues to maintain a virtual private studio. When not teaching, she music directs and L Train Brass Band and can be seen honking her sousaphone with friends on the streets of NYC. 

Hope Salmonson
Resource Manager

Hope Salmonson (she/her), from Kjipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia), is a queer, trans composer trying to navigate the very big world around her. Her suite for tuba and piano, Considerations on a Moonlit Lake, was virtually premiered in November 2020 by Brendan and Amy Ige. Her essay, “Not Quite Romeo: Berlioz, Smithson and the Unspoken Truth,” was published in Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Musicology. An undergraduate student at Mount Allison University, she is excitedly developing her composition portfolio while studying with Dr. Kevin Morse and looking toward the future with bright eyes.

Dr. Genevieve Clarkson
Director of Public Relations

An accomplished knitter, bundt pan aficionado, and Arlington, Virginia native, Dr. Genevieve Clarkson (she/her) joined the faculty of Oklahoma City University in fall of 2018. Genevieve has been featured as a soloist and clinician at a variety of conferences and workshops, including the Texas and Arizona Music Educators’ Conferences, the International Tuba-Euphonium Conference, the International Women’s Brass Conference, and the Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Workshop, and the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. Genevieve received her BM in Music Education from James Madison University, her MM from the University of Cincinnati, and her Doctorate from Indiana University.