The UNCG Wind Ensemble is a highly select concert band of fifty performers majoring in music at the UNCG School of Music. Performers range from freshmen through master's and doctoral students in music performance and music education. Membership in the organization is highly competitive. Former members of the Wind Ensemble hold teaching positions in music at all levels including college, as well as professional performing credentials in orchestras, premier military bands, and professional chamber ensembles.

Since 1982, Dr. John R. Locke has served on the UNCG School of Music faculty as Director of Bands, Director of Summer Music Camps, conductor of the Wind Ensemble, and conducting teacher. He holds the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from West Virginia University and the Doctor of Education degree from the University of Illinois. Prior to his arrival in North Carolina, Dr. Locke held teaching positions in music at West Virginia University, Southeast Missouri State University, and the University of Illinois. He has conducted band performances throughout the world including National Conventions of the MENC, CBDNA, ABA, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Strathmore Center in Washington, DC, Lincoln Center in New York City, Dvořák Hall in Prague, Innsbruck, Bologna, and Rome, Italy. Twice, the UNCG Wind Ensemble earned critical acclaim from The Washington Post newspaper following concert performances in the nation’s capital. Under Locke’s leadership, the UNCG Wind Ensemble has released 21 commercially available compact discs including fireworks! which was a Grammy Entry List 2011 CD in two categories, “Classical Album of the Year” and “Best Orchestral Performance.” In addition, he has guest conducted the U.S. Air Force Band, U.S. Army Field Band, U.S. Navy Band, “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, the Dallas Wind Symphony, as well as numerous university bands including University of Illinois, Iowa, LSU, Alabama, Florida, West Virginia, Idaho, Georgia, Nebraska – Omaha, Long Beach State, Troy, Bowling Green, South Florida, Furman, Youngstown State, Boise State, Morehead State, Eastern New Mexico, Washburn, Kennesaw State and numerous all-state honor bands and intercollegiate bands. Dr. Locke has served as Editor of The North Carolina Music Educator and has published articles on band and wind ensemble literature in the Journal of Band Research and in Winds Quarterly. He is Past-President of the North Carolina Music Educators Association representing 2,200 members. Dr. Locke is a recipient of Phi Mu Alpha’s Orpheus Award and has received the National Band Association Citation of Excellence on three occasions. He is a National Arts Associate of Sigma Alpha Iota. In 1989, Dr. Locke was among the youngest conductors ever to be elected to membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. In 1994, he received the Phi Beta Mu International Fraternity Outstanding Bandmaster of the Year Award, presented at the Mid-West International Band Clinic in Chicago. Dr. Locke is Past-President of the Southern Division of College Band Directors National Association and hosted the Southern Division Convention at UNCG in February 2000. In 2002, Dr. Locke was nominated for the O. Max Gardner Award, the highest award in the 16-campus UNC System. He also received the “Outstanding Music Teacher Award” in the UNCG School of Music in 2003. In 2005, Dr. Locke was elected President of the American Bandmasters Association and received the Albert Austin Harding Award from the American School Band Directors Association. In 2007, he received The Old North State Award from NC Governor Mike Easley “for dedication and service beyond excellence to the state of North Carolina.” In 2009, Locke became Editor of the Journal of Band Research, the premiere scholarly band publication in the world begun in 1962. In July 2012, Locke was honored by NC Governor Beverly Perdue with The Order of the Longleaf Pine Award, the highest civilian honor in North Carolina. In 2014, Locke was named the Marion Stedman Covington Stedman Distinguished Professor of Music at UNCG. At UNCG, Dr. Locke is the founder and director of the Summer Music Camp program, now the largest university music camp in America, enrolling over 2,000 students annually and served by a staff of 170 professionals. He is also the founder of the Carolina Band Festival and Conductors Conference. Since 1977, he has administered summer music camps for over 65,000 students. He is in constant demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator for band festivals throughout the United States and Canada.

KEVIN M. GERALDI begins his appointment as Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Conducting at the University of Illinois in the fall of 2022. His responsibilities include conducting the internationally renowned Illinois Wind Symphony, guiding the graduate program in wind conducting, and providing administrative leadership for the university’s comprehensive and historic band program. Previously, Dr. Geraldi served as Director of Instrumental Ensembles and Professor of Conducting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he joined the faculty in 2005. At UNCG, he conducted the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Casella Sinfonietta, led the graduate program in instrumental conducting, taught undergraduate conducting, and guided the instrumental ensemble program. He has held additional faculty positions at Lander University in Greenwood, SC, and in the public schools of Westchester, IL.

Ensembles under Dr. Geraldi’s guidance have presented acclaimed performances in significant venues in the United States and Europe, at national and state conventions, and through recordings on the Equilibrium, Centaur Records, and JustinTime labels. He maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator with high school bands, orchestras, and honor ensembles, including appearances with the Greensboro Symphony, Xinghai Conservatory Symphony Orchestra (China), the Union Musicale de Roquetas de Mar (Spain), and numerous university ensembles. Dr. Geraldi is a leader in commissioning and premiering new works for band and chamber ensemble and has earned praise for his collaborations with numerous significant composers and soloists.

Dr. Geraldi is a co-author of The Elements of Expressive Conducting, a textbook for undergraduate conducting courses that is widely used around the United States. A dedicated proponent of music education, his articles for music educators on concert programming and effective rehearsal strategies have been published by The Instrumentalist and the Music Educators Journal, and he has contributed numerous conductor’s guides for the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series. He is a frequent presenter at international, national, and state conferences. His articles in The Journal of Band Research and the WASBE Journal address topics that reflect his interest in the history and performance practice of chamber music for winds, brass, and strings.

A native of Elmhurst, IL, Dr. Geraldi holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in conducting from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Michael Haithcock and H. Robert Reynolds, and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, where he studied conducting with Steven Eggleston. Additionally, he studied with teachers including Gustav Meier and Kenneth Kiesler, and participated in conducting workshops with Pierre Boulez, Frederick Fennell, and Paul Vermel.

Dr. Geraldi is a recipient of the Conductors Guild’s Thelma A. Robinson Award and the Outstanding Teaching Award from the UNCG School of Music. He is a National Arts Associate of Sigma Alpha Iota and a member of the American Bandmasters Association, the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the National Association for Music Education, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Considered among the finest collegiate band programs, the UNCG Bands are dedicated to the performance, study, and cultivation of band music. The UNCG Wind Ensemble’s latest recording project, The Centennial Collection, is a celebration of the UNCG School of Music’s centennial (1921–2021). With 117 tracks totaling over 11 hours of music, it includes works from 19 recording projects between 1995 and 2015 that were previously unavailable.