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Meet The Concert Band Staff

Concert Band

Chris Parks, Director Mr. Parks is the Director of the Boston University Bands, which provides quality music opportunities for members of the Boston University community. Mr. Parks' has also been Director of Athletic Bands since 2001. In addition to the Athletic Bands, Mr. Parks conducts the Boston University Concert Band. Mr. Parks grew up in El Paso, Texas, where he attended the University of Texas at El Paso. After receiving his Bachelors of Music Education in El Paso, he moved to Boston to pursue his Masters in Trumpet Performance, which he completed in 1995. Upon graduating, Chris spent 5 years touring nationally and internationally with numerous Broadway musicals, including The King & I and The Sound of Music. He has toured with Marie Osmond and John Davidson and has performed with Julio Iglesias, Bobby Shew and Dizzy Gillespie. Mr. Parks has been a member of the faculty/staff of the Tanglewood Institute, the Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar, Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps, The Spartans Drum and Bugle Corps and the Drum Major Academy.

Zach deVries, Graduate Assistant A native of Islip Terrace, New York, Zachary deVries received his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, where he is currently a Master of Music candidate in Music Education. His musical endeavors have placed him on stage with Philip Smith, Joseph Alessi, Stanley Drucker, Carol Wincenc, and Pat Sheridan. In his thirteen-year career as a tubist, Zachary has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Symphony Hall, as well as Madison Square Garden, Shea Stadium and Fenway Park. At Boston University, Zachary is the Graduate Assistant for the Boston University Bands, which provides music-making opportunities for over 450 non-music majors from 11 colleges at the University. As the Graduate Assistant, Zachary serves as the assistant conductor for the Concert Band, Pep Band, Scarlet Band and works on the artistic and musical staff of the Marching Band. Zachary completed his student teaching in the Wellesley Public Schools where he conducted the award winning Wellesley High School Wind Ensemble and 2:00 Jazz Band. In the summer of 2008, Zachary served as the teaching assistant for the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Tuba/Euphonium Workshop. Zachary currently studies with Mike Roylance, principal tubist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Zachary’s past teachers include tubists Bill Troiano, Willie Clark, and Pat Sheridan as well as conductors David Martins and William McManus.

Dr. Jennifer Bill, Woodwind Instructor Saxophonist, Jennifer Bill performs solo and chamber music with a variety of groups around southern New England, including the Back Bay Saxophone Quartet. In December of 2005 she was a guest soloist with the Boston University Wind Ensemble, performing John Harbison's San Antonio. In the spring of 2006 she was a guest conductor with the Providence College concert band. She has premiered numerous works including Quartet for Saxophones by Mei-mi Lan in 2003, Perpetual Dejavu by Colin Stack in 2002, and Three American Dances by Edward Mascari in 2000. Ms. Bill has recently premiered works by Howard Frazin, John McDonald and Shih-Hui Chen as part of Worldwide Concurrent Premieres in 2005. She has participated in national and world conferences including the World Saxophone Congress in 2003 and the North American Saxophone Alliance national conference in 2000. She was also a national finalist at the Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Chamber Music Competition in 1999. Ms. Bill currently is a Special Lecturer at Providence College teaching Theory, Saxophone, and Chamber music. She is also the Saxophone Instructor and Wind Ensemble Coordinator for the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. She received her education from Providence College and The Boston Conservatory, and is currently completing her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at Boston University.

Mary Cicconetti, Woodwind Instructor Mary Cicconetti is a freelance musician in the Boston area. Cicconetti earned a M.M. in oboe performance from Arizona State University and a B.M. in oboe performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She currently facilitates music theory courses online through Boston University, coaches woodwind sectionals for the Boston University All-Campus Orchestra and Concert Band, and teaches double reeds for the Newton Public Schools. Cicconetti has performed with orchestras throughout New England including the Neponset Valley Philharmonic Orchestra, Foxboro, MA; Granite State Symphony Orchestra, Concord, NH; Nutmeg Symphony Orchestra, Bristol, CT; and Brockton Symphony Orchestra, Brockton, MA. While living in Louisiana, Cicconetti taught oboe and music theory at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA. She held positions and performed both oboe and English horn with several orchestras in the Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas region. These orchestras included the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, Shreveport, LA; Rapides Symphony Orchestra, Alexandria, LA; Longview Symphony Orchestra, Longview, TX; Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, Texarkana, TX; and the South Arkansas Symphony, Eldorado, AR. Cicconetti has also performed with the Phoenix Symphony, Phoenix, AZ; Symphony of the West Valley, Sun City, AZ; the Kentucky Symphony, Newport, KY. Cicconetti toured with the Jeunesses Musicales Weltorchester internationally and can be seen in the orchestra on the 2002 ARTE production entitled "Stars von morgen" (Stars of Tomorrow) filmed in Saarbrucken, Germany. Cicconetti has participated in numerous music festivals including Sarasota, Aspen, and Texas Music Festivals. While in Arizona, Ms. Cicconetti apprenticed with David Weber in Chandler, AZ and currently sells her "ocotillo" reeds through Weber Reeds. She is also an active oboe clinician in the United States.