Band Conductor

Dennis Carteris a busy freelancer in the Detroit area, serving as Principal Flutist for the Michigan Philharmonic and the Dearborn Symphony, and as an additional musician with the Michigan Opera Theater, the Flint Symphony, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He is a well known soloist in the area, performing concerti with the Michigan Philharmonic, the Dearborn Symphony, and the Rochester Symphony.  Active in theater orchestras, he serves as the Principal Flutist for the Fisher Theater Orchestra, the Bijou Orchestra, and has toured the United States with the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, the New Sigmund Romberg Orchestra, and the Carl Rosa Opera Company (UK).  He also is apart of the Sphinx Organization, serving as an assistant in their Overture Strings Program and as Principal of the Sphinx Orchestra, which performed at the Napa Valley Music Festival in California. He taught for many years as an assistant music teacher in the Southfield Public School System, taught at Henry Ford Community College, and currently has a studio of private students.  He holds a B.M. in Music Performance from Wayne State University, and his teachers were Ervin Monroe and Clement Barone.

Substitute Conductor

Cathy Feldman-Duncan attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and is an alumnus of the National Music Camp and the Interlochen Arts Academy. She received her B.A. in Education from Arizona State University, and her Master of Music with Distinction, in flute performance from California State University, Northridge. A classically trained flutist, Cathy also has a strong Jazz and Rock background. 
​In addition to fluting, Cathy is a former music and band instructor in grades K-8, in addition to being an experienced private flute instructor. She has been teaching for over 25-years and has been involved in performing and recording throughout the Los Angeles and Detroit areas as a freelance musician with her own woodwind trio and jazz combo, Fresh Flute. Cathy has also won several awards in performance and has performed in a variety of musical ensembles, including the Bay Wind Quintet in San Luis Obispo, California; Quintessence Wind Quintet, Santa Maria, California; and the San Fernando Valley Symphony in Los Angeles. Cathy is a member of Phi Kappa Lambda honor society for musicians, the National Flute Association, and the Southeast Michigan Flute Association (SEMFA), where she served as the Director of the Southeast Michigan Jazz Flute Ensemble. Currently, Cathy serves on the Board of Sigma Alpha Iota, professional music fraternity for women in music, and performs with her husband, who plays piano and keyboards, in their duo Flute Sorbet.

Substitute Conductor

Mark Phillips is a Michigan music educator and successful gig musician playing all over the United States. A Detroit standard on the saxophone, trumpet, and clarinet, he also loves taking The Mark Phillips Band to the Windy City as often as possible. Mark has been teaching since 1978 and is great with these kids! A long-time music teacher, Mark taught in Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield public schools and directed the Jazz Band at Oakland Community College.  Because of his 25-year affiliation with the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, Mark has adjudicated for decades. He knows exactly how to train new players as they learn both how to play and how to take care of their instruments.
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Recorder Band (offered as enrollment allows)
​Kim Smith is Children’s Ministries Director at Dearborn Free Methodist Church, where she also played keyboard in the praise band and directs a holiday bell choir. She has over 15 years combined performance experience in clarinet, flute, recorder and keyboard. Kim is also a composer whose accomplishments include an original children’s Christmas musical. In 2007 she joined Home Education Music Association as Recorder Band Conductor where she teaches musicianship to beginning players. She is also a nurse, earning her BSN at Eastern Michigan University. 
Kim is a mom who loves kids and music. When the two come together at HEMA, she is in her element. Some of Kim’s first recorder students have already graduated high school and continue to pursue music in a variety of ways. Her instruction in reading music, counting, listening and playing ensure an easy transition to HEMA Band.