Jeffrey Conrad
Jeffrey Conrad serves as the Director of Bands at Roxbury High School in Succasunna, NJ. Mr. Conrad’s teaching responsibilities include conducting the Honors Wind Symphony as well as co-teaching the Symphony Band, Concert Band and both marching bands at Roxbury High School. Mr. Conrad also serves as the Roxbury School District Low Brass Specialist grades 7-12. In addition, he assists with the teaching of the 7th and 8th Grade Bands at Eisenhower Middle School.
From 2006-2017. Mr Conrad served as one of two band directors at Eisenhower Middle School in Succasunna, NJ. His responsibilities included conducting either the 7th or 8th Grade Concert Band, as well as assisting with the Honors Wind Symphony, Symphony Band, Concert Band and both marching bands at Roxbury HS. Mr. Conrad proudly served as part of a team that has seen the Honors Wind Symphony perform at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival three times since 2008 in addition to a performance at the 2008 Midwest Clinic.
Since his tenure began at Eisenhower Middle School, Mr. Conrad helped to create an Honors Wind Ensemble, an active chamber music program, a Summer Band Program for students in grades 5-8 as well as an Artist-in-Residence program at the middle school. He has had the privilege of working with guests such as Brian Balmages, Bruce Yurko, Chuck Campbell and Dr. John Lynch. In June of 2014, the EMS Honors Band performed the world premiere of the commissioned work Music for an Occasion by composer Joseph Turrin. In the Spring of 2015, Mr. Conrad and the EMS Honors Band worked closely with composer Michael Markowski on a performance of his piece The Cave You Fear at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Mr. Conrad has also created an annual concert featuring low brass chamber music in a variety of settings, highlighting the talents of his current students grades 6-12 as well as alumni and professional guests.
Mr. Conrad earned a B.M. in Music Education from William Paterson University, where he graduated summa cum laude from the university’s Music Honors program. While at William Paterson University, Mr. Conrad studied tuba with Paul Scott and conducting and brass pedagogy with Dr. Joel Craig Davis. He received his M.M. in Music Education with a concentration in Tuba Performance from the Eastman School of Music where he studied tuba with Don Harry. During the summer of 2003, Mr. Conrad served as the tuba instructor for the Eastman School of Music’s Music Horizons program.
Currently, Mr. Conrad is an active freelance musician in the New York Metropolitan area and is also proud to maintain a very active and successful private tuba and euphonium studio for students of all ages and ability levels. His students frequently earn high honors in Area, Region, All-State and All-Eastern ensembles as well as various Regional, National, and International competitions. Since the summer of 2015, Mr. Conrad has served as the tuba instructor for the Rutgers University Symphonic Wind Band and Chamber Music Camp. Mr. Conrad also served as the guest conductor of the 2016 North Jersey Region I Intermediate Band.
Mr. Conrad currently resides in West Orange, NJ with his wife Sarah and their son and daughter, Samuel and Eleanor.
Sarah Bednarcik
Sarah Bednarcik currently serves as the Assistant Director of Bands at Roxbury High School. She co-directs the Symphony Band, is a District Woodwind Specialist, and serves as coordinator of the instrumental chamber music program while assisting with all middle school and high school bands. Ms. Bednarcik served as the woodwind ensemble conductor for the 2011-12 Region Chamber Ensembles, and as a clarinet clinician at high schools in the area. She earned her B.M. in music education and clarinet performance from Northwestern University, and was a graduate assistant while earning her M.M. in clarinet performance from Rutgers University.
Ms. Bednarcik maintains a private clarinet studio in northern New Jersey. Her students successfully audition for Area, Region and All-State ensembles, and have been accepted to the schools of music at Rutgers University, Ithaca College, Michigan State, and Boston University. She is currently the Eb clarinetist in the Eastern Wind Symphony and is also a founding member of Vento Trio. Vento Trio has performed at the International Double Reed Conference and presented at the Chamber Music America Conference in New York City. They traveled to France to serve as clinicians and performers at the international Fou de Basson, and performed at the conservatories in St. Brieuc and Angouleme. The trio was the resident chamber ensemble at the Festival de Música de Londrina in Brazil, where Ms. Bednarcik served as the clarinet professor. They have released two recordings, Brazilian Dances and Inventions (2006) and Hudson Views (2013).
Ms. Bednarcik resides in West Orange, New Jersey with her husband Jeffrey and their son Samuel.
Ryan Sweer
Ryan Sweer serves as the Associate Director of Bands and Brass Specialist at Roxbury High School. His responsibilities include directing the Concert Band, assistant-directing the Honors Wind Symphony and Symphony Band, teaching trumpet/horn lessons and brass sectionals in grades seven through twelve, and teaching the Advanced Placement Music Theory course. He is also the director of the Marching Gaels, Roxbury Sound, and Jazz Ensemble.
Mr. Sweer holds a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he studied jazz and trumpet with Joey Tartell, Pat Harbison, and David Baker. Prior to that, Mr. Sweer earned his Bachelors of Science in Music Education from Messiah College where he studied under Dr. William Stowman, Dr. Bradley Genevro, Kirk Reese, and Tim Warfield.
Through his professional experiences, Mr. Sweer has taught students in fourth grade through college level. Previously, he served as the Director of Bands for three years at Glen Meadow Middle School in Vernon Township, NJ. He also spent two years as an Adjunct Professor at Messiah College where he taught music theory and brass methods courses, as well as directed the Messiah College Big Band. Currently, Mr. Sweer is an active freelance musician and maintains his own private trumpet studio with students who have successfully auditioned for honors bands and jazz ensembles through the All-State level.
Mr. Sweer resides in Succasunna, NJ with his wife Krista, their two daughters Evie and Corinne, and their dog Axel.