CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The longtime director of bands at Ithaca College will lead the University of Illinois concert and athletic bands, including the Marching Illini, beginning in August.
Stephen Peterson has been appointed the director of bands, with artistic, academic and administrative leadership of the U. of I. Bands Program. He'll oversee the assistant and associate band directors, including Barry Houser, the director of the Marching Illini and athletic bands.
Peterson also will conduct the U. of I. Wind Symphony; direct the graduate program in wind band conducting; and teach courses in advanced wind band rehearsal techniques and literature.
"(Illinois) is where everything began," Peterson said. "The heritage of the entire university, if not the entire American, band system can be taken right back to the University of Illinois. Many of our icons were band directors there.
"It's a university with a lot of appreciation for what the bands mean," he said. "I don't know of another university where the bands program is as deeply rooted within the entire university as it is in Illinois. It really is quite remarkable."
An Arizona native, Peterson has connections to the Midwest. He spent 10 years as the associate director of bands at Northwestern University, and he was the director of the marching band there for eight of those 10 years, taking the band to the 1996 Rose Bowl.
"I deeply love the Big Ten. I'm very happy to get back to it," Peterson said. "I love the sports. I also love the camaraderie the band directors in the Big Ten have. They are a very close-knit group, and there is great respect amongst all my colleagues."
Jeffrey Magee, the director of the School of Music, described Peterson as "down-to-earth, approachable and demanding, all at once."
"He is in the prime of an illustrious career, with a long and remarkable list of invited conducting appearances across the U.S. and abroad," Magee said. "He brings a sterling reputation in every area that matters: musicianship, conducting, teaching, leadership, integrity and collegiality. He stands among the nation's most distinguished concert band conductors."
Peterson has been the director of bands and a music professor at Ithaca College since 1998. He led the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble, which produced widely respected recordings and performed at Lincoln Center and on a tour of Ireland. Peterson has been a leader in cultivating new musical work through commissions and premieres.
"I'm looking forward to a new challenge," Peterson said about coming to the U. of I. "I'm looking forward to working with doctoral students, which I haven't done before, and to a very, very high level of music-making, which can be attained there. I'm eager to work with very talented colleagues there."
Prior to his position at Ithaca College, Peterson was the associate director of bands at Northwestern University from 1988 to 1998, and he led the Northshore Concert Band from 1996 to 1998.
He also served as the associate director of bands for Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, for four years, and he was a teacher and conductor at high schools in Tempe, Arizona and Phoenix.
Peterson earned his doctorate of music from Northwestern University, and his bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University.
Peterson succeeds interim director Linda Moorhouse. His appointment is effective Aug. 16.
Peterson's wife, Elizabeth Peterson, also has been hired as a clinical professor of music at the U. of I. School of Music. She is the conductor of the Ithaca College Symphonic Band and the coordinator of the Instrumental Junior Student Teaching Program. She served as a guest conductor of the Cornell University Wind Symphony in fall 2012 and spring 2014, and as a co-conductor of the Ithaca Concert Band since 2000.
Elizabeth Peterson is a native of Glenview, Illinois, and was the director of bands for Lake Zurich High School from 1991 to 1998.
She received her doctorate of musical arts in music education from Shenandoah Conservatory, her master's degree from Northwestern University and her bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan.
"Her Illinois roots and national reputation add further luster to this new era in our bands program and hold out the promise of attracting more excellent student musicians to our campus," Magee said.
The Illinois Bands Program is regarded as one of the world's top college band programs. More than 650 students participate in the program.