DR. JAMIE LIPTON (she/they) is Professor of Low Brass and Director of the Brass Band & Symphony Band at Henderson State University (Arkadelphia, AR). Lipton has performed throughout the US and all over the world, most recently in Brazil. A past winner of both the Falcone Euphonium Artist and the ITEC Euphonium Artist competitions, she now serves on the Falcone Festival board and recently served as Competition Coordinator for ITEC. Lipton has been a clinician at many leading American brass workshops and has taught euphonium at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp since 2007. She is the euphoniumist for the touring ensemble Trio di Velluto, and she is a board member and solo euphonium of the Natural State Brass Band in Little Rock, AR.

DR. AMY LAURSEN (she/her) is the Associate Professor of Horn and Theory at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, where she started teaching in the fall of 2017. She completed her DMA in Horn Performance in 2015 at the University of North Texas. While at UNT, she was heavily involved in the Texas Center for Performing Arts Health. Currently, Dr. Laursen performs with the USD Chamber Winds and USD Faculty Brass Quintet, various regional orchestras and summer municipal bands. Additionally, she is the horn player in the low brass trio, Trio di Velluto, with her husband, Dr. Todd Cranson (tuba) and her good friend, Dr. Jamie Lipton (euphonium). The trio has commissioned new works for the ensemble and have performed at numerous regional and international conferences, including at the Brazilian Tuba and Euphonium Association National Conference held at the Escola de Música da UFPA in Belém, Brazil. Dr. Laursen and Dr. Cranson also recently put out Landscapes through Mark Records (56399-MCD) featuring music all written for the duo. Prior to teaching at USD, Dr. Laursen taught horn, theory, and music education courses at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, AR. Additionally, she taught elementary music, band, and orchestra in Gillette, WY.

DR. TODD CRANSON (he/him) is the Associate Professor of Low Brass and Director of Athletic Bands at the University of South Dakota. Previous positions at Henderson State University and the Hot Springs Music Festival led to collaborations with Drs. Lipton and Laursen and the formation of their Trio di Velluto. Todd also taught high school band in Marrero, LA for five years and drew upon his experiences in this region to take the bands at USD to perform in two New Orleans Mardi Gras parades in February, 2024. He received his DMA in 2015 from the University of Illinois where his dissertation focused on 19th Century American Bands. In addition to his enthusiasm for teaching and performing, Todd is a passionate home brewer, opened a brewery in Hot Springs National Park, and includes stops at virtually every brewery in his path when traveling! He is happily married to Dr. Amy Laursen who tolerates both his hobbies and his tuba playing!

The NMM Live! Series is made possible by the USD Student Government Association and the South Dakota Arts Council through the Department of Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Arts.