About Us
Gregg Hanson
Gregg I. Hanson was born in Ogden, Utah in 1943. He studied trumpet, piano, and voice in his formative years before attending The University of Michigan where he earned bachelor and master degrees in 1967-68. He has studied conducting with Elizabeth A. H. Green and William D. Revelli and created an innovative graduate conducting program at The University of Arizona where he served as director of wind bands and professor of conducting for 26 years. Following his retirement in 2016 he was named Professor Emeritus of the Fred Fox School of Music. His performing ensembles have appeared at all of the major venues in the United States including the conferences of the College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, and the American Bandmasters Association. He was inducted as a member of ABA in 1984. His conducting experience is varied and includes commercial music, musical theatre, opera, chamber music, orchestra, and wind band.
Under his baton, The University of Arizona Wind Ensemble achieved international recognition with the release of three compact disc recordings, all of the music of David Maslanka, under the Albany label. Hanson enjoys numerous guest-conducting and clinic appointments in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and most recently in China where he was the first American wind band conductor to conduct a public concert with the Peoples Liberation Army Band. Hanson has been praised for his authentic interpretations and degree of excellence of his work and is credited with numerous premieres of outstanding repertoire for the wind band.
Mr. Sepulvado currently serves as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Cuyamaca Collge in El Cajon, CA, an eastern suburb of San Diego. After a two year hiatus, James restarted the Concert Band at Cuyamaca College and since that time the group has experienced record high enrollment and performed ambitious literature including David Maslanka’s Symphony No. 7 in the Spring of 2017. Prior to his appointment at Cuyamaca College, James served as Instrumental Music Director at Point Loma High School in San Diego, CA from 2008 to 2016. During his tenure the Band, Orchestra and AP Music Theory programs more than tripled in size and the program was recognized for musical excellence and community service. James has carried over his belief in the importance of community performance from the Point Loma area where his high school groups performed over 100 times a year to east county where he is working to replicate that level of community engagement.
James has studied tuba with Eric Weirather, Kelly Thomas and Brent Dutton and has studied conducting with Eric Weirather and Gregg Hanson. As a freelance professional tuba player James has appeared with Seaside Brass, Westwind Brass and the San Diego Winds. Mr. Sepulvado is a member of the American Federation of Musicians Union, Local 325. James is President and co-founder of the San Diego Winds.
James Sepulvado
