Director and Guest Bios
Todd Ebert
Director of Bands
todd.ebert@ucps.k12.nc.us
Todd Ebert is the founder and Director of the Cuthbertson High School Instrumental Education Department. He is presently in his 23rd year of teaching in the public school system and his 14th year at Cuthbertson High School. Under his leadership the Cuthbertson band program has grown from its initial 29 members to over 160 students in three class ensembles, a marching band, jazz band, various small ensembles, and a winterguard and drumline program.
Mr. Ebert received his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Armstrong State University and a Masters in Music Education from Western Carolina University. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education and the North Carolina Bandmasters Association. He is the founding advisor for Chapter 6143 of the Tri-M Music Honor’s Society, and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda. Mr. Ebert was named “Teacher of the Year” for Cuthbertson High School for 2013/14 and was recognized in 2011 at the Cuthbertson Educator recognition Banquet. Mr. Ebert has been awarded the National Band Associations “Citation of Excellence” 9 times and has been recognized by the Union County Board of Education on numerous occasions for his dedication to the education of his students and their achievements.
Under Mr. Ebert’s baton the Cuthbertson Bands have grown in size, skill, and recognition. In the spring of 2018 the Cuthbertson Blue Note Winds will perform as a Featured Ensemble at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis. This is the second time Cuthbertson has been selected for this event; the last time being in 2015. Mr. Ebert’s ensembles have performed at the North Carolina Music Educators Convention twice, the University of Georgia “JanFest” Honor Band Clinic, and the University of South Carolina Honor Band Clinic. Last year the band performed at the Music For All Southeastern Regional Festival held at Georgia State University and at the North Carolina Honors Band Clinic hosted by Highpoint University. In the fall of 2015 the band was awarded a residency with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. The music video which was created, performed, and produced by the Cuthbertson band students during this residency can be seen on the John Lennon Tour Bus website, the NAMM website, and youtube.
Cuthbertson Bands were created through the shared leadership and vision of Todd and Katie Ebert. As a team they work hand and hand in both the middle and high school to provide musical opportunities to their students.
Katie Ebert
Director of Bands
katie.ebert@ucps.k12.nc.us
Katie Ebert is the Director of Bands at Cuthbertson Middle School in Waxhaw NC, having served in this capacity since the school’s opening in 2009. The Cuthbertson Middle School concert bands have consistently earned superior ratings at local, district and regional music festivals. Under Mrs. Ebert’s baton the middle school program has grown to a current enrollment of approximately 340 music students. Mrs. Ebert also serves as the Assistant Director of Bands at Cuthbertson High School. Prior to coming to Cuthbertson, Mrs. Ebert served for five years as the Director of Bands at Snelson-Golden Middle School in Hinesville, GA.
Mrs. Ebert is in her 19th year teaching public school and each of her ensembles continue to experience success. In 2012 the Cuthbertson Middle School 8th grade band was a performing ensemble at the NC music educator’s state convention. The 8th grade band travels to perform annually in Orlando and in 2015 and 2017 the band performed at the Festival Disney competition. The Cuthbertson band is also a regular performing group at the Carowinds Music Festival. In 2017 the band was a performing group at the 2017 NCMEA conference and at the University of Georgia MidFest. In 2018 and 2021 the Cuthbertson Middle School band performed as part of Music for All’s Southeastern Regional at Georgia State University. Mrs. Ebert has directed or assisted with ensemble performances at Music for All’s National Concert Band Festival, the NCMEA state convention, Festival Disney, the Percy Grainger Festival, the Southern Star Music Festival, Universal Studios Theme Park festivals, and the Carowinds Music Festival.
Mrs. Ebert holds a Master of Music Education degree from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC and a Bachelor of Music Education as well as a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah GA. Mrs. Ebert is a graduate of Lassiter High School in Marietta GA, where she served as section leader in the Lassiter Trojan Marching Band, and as principal clarinet in the Lassiter Symphonic I Band. She is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and holds professional associations in the National Band Association, the National Association for Music Educators, the North Carolina Music Educators Association, the South Central District Bandmasters Association, and the Union County Bandmasters Association. Mrs. Ebert was awarded the National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence in 2015 and was recognized as Cuthbertson Middle School’s Teacher of the Year in 2016/17. She currently serves as a district representative on the state MPA committee.
Mrs. Ebert recently served as a guest clinician for the South Central and Northwestern All District Symphonic Honor Bands, and she continues to conduct both Distinct and County bands in the Southeast. She resides in Waxhaw, NC and team teaches the Cuthbertson band program alongside her husband Todd. They are the proud parents of their daughter Aramina.
Samantha Liddle
Associate Director
samantha.liddle@ucps.k12.nc.us
Samantha Liddle is the Associate Director of Bands for the Cuthbertson band program. She is an alumna of Appalachian State University where she earned her BM in Instrumental Music Education and a Certificate of Performance in Clarinet. During her time at ASU, Samantha joined the Epsilon Theta chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota. She is still a current member of their alumnae association and continues to embody the principles of service through music. Ms. Liddle also served as the Treasurer and Vice President of the NAfME chapter at the Hayes School of Music.
Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Warner (Ret.)
Mr. Jeffrey Warner is a retired Band Commander and Conductor from the U.S. Air Force. Since his
military retirement in 2016 as a Lieutenant Colonel after twenty years of service, he serves as an active guest conductor, consultant, and clinician in North Carolina, as well as provides professional development seminars for band directors. Since moving to North Carolina upon his military retirement, he has expanded his writing contributions to include many new band transcriptions, plus orchestral arrangements and original works.
Brooke Pierson
Brooke Pierson (b. 1987) is a multi-award winning composer, multiple ASCAP+ Award Recipient, conductor, and teacher of the year nominated educator out of Ypsilanti, Michigan (USA). His music has been performed by countless university, school, and professional ensembles throughout the United States and abroad such as the West Point Band, the Dallas Winds, the Australian Wind Symphony, and renowned solo and chamber musicians. In 2018 and again in 2024, he was selected as a winner of the Dallas Winds fanfare competitions. Since 2019, his music has been regularly featured at regional and national conferences, contests, and festivals. In 2020, his work “The Lighthouse Keeps Watch” was selected as winner of the NBA/Alfred Composition Contest and in 2021, he was commissioned by the West Point Academy Band/US Army to write his Symphony No. 2 “West Point”, the first piece of this scope commissioned by the academy band since 1952. Brooke regularly serves as a guest and resident composer to institutions. Brooke holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Michigan State University and is currently Chair of the Music Department at the Washtenaw International High School and Middle Academy, (Ypsilanti, Michigan), teaching Orchestra, Band, Music History, Music Culture, and Music Composition, where he has held this position since the school’s inception in 2011. He also served as the music director of Grace Lutheran Church (Howell, MI) for 8 years as organist and musician. Brooke is a member of ASCAP and his music can be found with Alfred Music, Excelcia Music Publishing, C. Alan Publications, and his own publishing company Taurus Music Publishing.
Samuel Sparrow
A North Carolina native, Samuel Sparrow began his position as Section and E-flat Clarinet with the Charlotte Symphony in 2017, and also served as Acting Principal Clarinet in the 2018-19 season. In addition to his post in the Charlotte Symphony, Mr. Sparrow has performed with the New York Philharmonic; Charleston, North Carolina, and New World Symphonies; and Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Raleigh Symphony, Garner Sinfonia, and Triangle Youth Philharmonic. Other performance highlights include a featured appearance with Sting at the Main Assembly Hall of the United Nations and the West Coast premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s chamber opera, Second Nature. In addition to performing, Mr. Sparrow is an avid proponent of music education. He currently serves on the faculties of Davidson and Queens Colleges in Charlotte, and has offered presentations at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Appalachian State and Winthrop Universities, and Hebrew Union College. He regularly gives coachings at local schools throughout Charlotte and serves as a coach for the Charlotte Symphony and Cornelius Youth Orchestra programs. His private students have performed in numerous honors bands throughout the region and have gone on to pursue studies at the North Carolina School of the Arts. The recipient of the Leon Russianoff Memorial Scholarship, Mr. Sparrow earned his Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. His primary teachers include Mark Nuccio, Anthony McGill, and Pascual Martinez. During his summers, he furthered his studies at the Brevard Music Center’s Orchestral Institute and the Music Academy of the West in California. samuelsparrowclarinet.com
David Maslanka
David Maslanka was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1943. He attended the Oberlin College Conservatory where he studied composition with Joseph Wood. He spent a year at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and did masters and doctoral study in composition at Michigan State University where his principal teacher was H. Owen Reed.
Maslanka’s music for winds has become especially well known. Among his more than 150 works are over 50 pieces for wind ensemble, including eight symphonies, seventeen concertos, a Mass, and many concert pieces. His chamber music includes four wind quintets, five saxophone quartets, and many works for solo instrument and piano. In addition, he has written a variety of orchestral and choral pieces.
David Maslanka’s compositions are published by Maslanka Press, Carl Fischer, Kjos Music, Marimba Productions, and OU Percussion Press. They have been recorded on Albany, Reference Recordings, BIS (Sweden), Naxos, Cambria, CRI, Mark, Novisse, AUR, Cafua (Japan), Brain Music (Japan), Barking Dog, and Klavier labels. He served on the faculties of the State University of New York at Geneseo, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, and Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York, and was a freelance composer in Missoula, Montana from 1990 until his death in 2017.