Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble

The Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble is designed to have a single performer on each instrumental part, emulating the orchestral wind section. This helps musicians develop an orchestral tone color, maximizes personal responsibility, and encourages a chamber music style of playing even in a large ensemble setting. The Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble has the advantage of utilizing flexible instrumentations that allow it to perform a wide variety of wind ensemble repertoire.

Upcoming Concerts

History of the Ensemble

The Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble traces its roots back to the Carnegie Tech Kiltie Band. Founded in 1908 by just seven people, the Kiltie Band grew and enjoyed a long and distinguished history as a full concert band. For the next four decades, it was the preeminent performing ensemble in the university, taking biannual concert tours to Carnegie Hall in New York City. The Kiltie Band still performs today, now as a student organization that is open to all students, not just students within the School of Music. Among the band’s distinguished directors were William Schaffer, Dr. Richard Strange, and Philip Catelinet.

In 1976 Leonard Geissel was hired as director, replacing the retiring Philip Catelinet.  Geissel reorganized the group into the Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble and positioned it as a major performing ensemble for the School of Music’s wind, brass and percussion majors.

After Leonard Geissel’s departure from CMU in the late 1980s, the ensemble had a series of directors, including Eduardo Alonso Crespo, Keith Lockhart (now with the Boston Pops), and Dr. Jon Mitchell.  Denis Colwell, the former music director of the River City Brass, directed the ensemble from 1993 until 2011. Under Colwell’s direction the ensemble recorded music by Nancy Galbraith, Leonardo Balada and Efrain Amaya as well as various pieces for Smart Music education software. The Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble also frequently collaborated with the Carnegie Mellon University Concert Choirs and the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh. 

Upon Colwell’s promotion to Interim Head in 2011 (and then Head in 2012), Music Director George Vosburgh, along with Associate Director Stephen Story, currently direct the Ensemble.