Staff Sergeant Matthew Carmichael, soprano, received his master’s degree in Saxophone Performance from Indiana University and plays in The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” since 2006. SSG Carmichael has studied with Tod Kerstetter, Eugene Rousseau, Clifford Leaman, John Cipolla, Steve Stusek, Joseph Lulloff, John Sampen, and most recently Otis Murphy. He was also named a Yamaha Young Performing Artist in the summer of 2003. Carmichael was born in Lakeland, Florida, but later moved to Kentucky and attended Greenwood High School in Bowling Green. He received a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Western Kentucky University and a master’s degree in Saxophone Performance from Indiana University. His credits include playing with the Western Kentucky University faculty woodwind quintet and the Western Kentucky University wind ensemble (as winner of the 2002 concerto competition). He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha, Golden Key, Pi Kappa Lambda and Phi Kappa Phi.

John McNeil, alto, graduated from Herndon High School and James Madison University, where he played the saxophone. Mr. McNeil recently became a member of The City of Fairfax Band and has been a 15 year member of the Vienna Community Band where he was once a featured soloist on alto saxophone and autohorn. He has played with many other local musical organizations including the National Concert Band of America, the Capital Wind Symphony, the Fairfax Symphony Summer Band, the Riverside Wind Symphony, the Alexandria Citizens Band, the Falls Church Concert Band as well as the Vienna Saxophone Quartet. His saxophone teachers include William Wright, Mike Redford, Cindy Davis and Martin Wilkes. When he is not at the saxophone he plays tennis in a local tennis league, runs, bikes, and is currently learning how to develop applications for the iPhone. Mr. McNeil is an IT Specialist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC.

Lisa Fiorilli, tenor, studied saxophone performance with contemporary saxophonist John Sampen at Bowling Green State University in Ohio where she received a Bachelor of Music degree in music performance. She also took graduate courses at the University of Massachusetts in music performance. Other saxophone teachers included Lynn Klock and Russell Peterson, as well as her first teacher and mentor, Joseph Bosoty. She continues to be active in music as a performer and as a teacher; she plays tenor saxophone with the Capital Wind Symphony, and is a private saxophone instructor. Lisa’s full-time occupation is actually as an English teacher; she teaches British Literature and Creative Writing at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, VA.

Robert L. Carroll, baritone, graduated with a Ph. D. from the University of Connecticut in 1973. Dr. Carroll has played in a large number of musical organizations. He has played at Carnegie Hall, at the Kennedy Center, at the Concertgebouw Amphitheater in Holland, at Heidelburg University, and at the Yale University School of Music. He played in the premiere of Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis, and in actor/comedian Bob Hope’s stage band. Dr. Carroll has been on tour in various capacities in western Europe, in China, and in Russia. He is a student of saxophonist George Etheridge, and has studied with the noted tenor saxophonist James Houlik. He has been asked by composer Walter Hartley to premiere three of his new compositions. Currently Dr. Carroll plays in the Capital Wind Symphony, the Fairfax Symphony Summer Band, the Virginia Grand Military Band, the Concordia German Band, and the Vienna Community Band. Dr. Carroll is Professor at George Washington University.