The Finest Ingredients in the Community Band Cake - Putting it All Together
A successful Community Band is a treasure for all! The amount of work behind the scenes is incredible! This Roundtable discussion will tap the expertise of our panel to identify a variety of challenges and issues and their solutions. Expect some interesting ideas! There will also be time for a Q&A session.

Presenters/Panel:
Marge Rosen – Director, Port Townsend Summer Band
Tom Seaton – Director, Rancho Cordova River City Concert Band
Melanie Seaton – Board President, Rancho Cordova River City Concert
John Falskow – Director, Seattle Wind Symphony
Erin Keeton-Howard –Composer and Director, Foundation Wind Band
Chelsea Natesway – Director, Hometown Band
Edwin Powell – Director, Washington Wind Symphony
Tyler Benedict – Director, Sequim City Band
Facilitator: Ken Bergevin

Marge Rosen
Marge Rosen is a music educator, music director and multi-instrumentalist. She is Director of Bands at Peninsula College in Port Angeles. Marge also conducts the Port Townsend Summer Band, is the music director of Stardust Big Band, and performs with the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra. Marge is a founding member of Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra and served as its Executive Director for over nine years. Marge is a veteran of the United States Navy Band. She earned a masters degree in music education from Ithaca College in New York.

Tom Seaton
Tom Seaton has been the music director of the Rancho Cordova River City Concert Band since 2003. He is a 1990 graduate of California State  University Northridge. As a performance major, he studied clarinet with Dr. Charles Bay and performed under the batons of Dr. David Whitwell and Mr. Gary Pratt. Mr. Seaton earned his Master of Science in Arts and Letters Degree in 1998 through the American Band College at Southern Oregon  University. Through ABC, Mr. Seaton has had the opportunity to play under the batons of Dr. Frederick Fennell, Dr. Alfred Reed, Elliot Del Borgo, Frank
Erickson, Robert W. Smith, Col. Arnald Gabriel, Dr. Peter Loel Boonshaft, Col John R. Bourgeois (former US Marine Band conductor) and other European composers such as Johan de Meij, Jan van der Roost and Australian Composer Ralph Hultgren.

Melanie Seaton

Melanie Seaton serves as the President of the Board of the Rancho Cordova River City Concert Band. Melanie performs with the band on piccolo. Melanie was instrumental in the Rancho Cordova River City Concert Band receiving the Cordova Community Council Distinguished Community Service Organization award in 2022. 

John Falskow

Dr. John Falskow joined Seattle Wind Symphony in 2019 as Artistic Director and Conductor. Falskow is the Director of Instrumental Music at Tacoma Community College (TCC), where he conducts the TCC Orchestra, TCC Symphonic Band, and has taught a variety of classes across the music curriculum. In addition to duties at TCC, John is the Music Director and Conductor of the Puget Sound Youth Wind Ensemble – a select, high school musician ensemble. In the fall of 2018, Falskow founded Brass Band Tacoma, a South Sound based British brass band. Falskow is an active conductor,
music educator, and trumpeter throughout the Northwest region. John completed his Ph.D. in Music Education at Florida State University, where he also conducted many of the university’s instrumental ensembles. John’s education also includes degrees from Washington State University and the  University of Puget Sound.

Chelsea Natesway
As Conductor of the Silverdale Hometown Band, Chelsea strives to create an environment where music is for everyone — whether you’re a seasoned player, a new learner, or someone who simply loves to listen. She believes every performance is an opportunity to bring people together, celebrate community, and remind audiences that live music is a shared experience worth celebrating. Chelsea is a graduate of Northern Arizona University, where she deepened both her technical skills and her passion for performance. Chelsea is the Music Specialist at Silverwood School, where she introduces young learners to the wide, exciting world of music, fostering curiosity and creativity.

Edwin Powell
Dr. Edwin C. Powell serves as the Music Director for the Washington Wind Symphony. Dr. Powell is the Emeritus (retired) Director of Bands and  Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University where he was responsible for the University Wind Ensemble and Conducting and Music Education Methods courses. While at Pacific Lutheran University, Dr. Powell was the recipient of a Pacific Lutheran University Faculty Excellence Award in 2014.
Dr. Powell earned degrees from the University of the Pacific, the Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music, and The University of North Texas, where he completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting studying with Eugene Migliaro Corporon.

Tyler Benedict
Tyler Benedict has been Music Director of the Sequim City Band since 2013. An Olympic Peninsula native, he was involved in music at an early age. After high school in Port Angeles, he attended the University of Washington in Seattle and received degrees of Bachelor of Arts in Music and Bachelor of Music in Music Education. At the University of Washington, he was a member of the Wind Ensemble, UW Husky Marching Band, Symphonic Band, as well as chamber ensembles. He has earned a Master of Music in Conducting from Southern Oregon University through the American Band College
program. Benedict has performed and taught music in school programs, community/professional orchestras and bands as well as chamber ensembles
throughout the Pacific Northwest. Tyler has performed with the Olympic Express and Stardust Big Bands as well as Principal Tuba of the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra.


Erin Keeton-Howard

An ACB Composer, Erin Keeton-Howard is a Seattle-based educator, conductor, and composer. Currently serving as Director of Upper School Bands at The Northwest School in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of downtown Seattle, Erin has been teaching secondary and higher education instrumental music in the classroom since 2009. She is a multi-year Teacher of the Year nominee, and her students have been selected to perform at state and regional conferences. In 2023 she co-authored “Women in Wind Band”, published by GIA Publications, Inc. This book is written from the experience of
women and includes actionable strategies for fostering a more authentic and inclusive pedagogy in music education for everyone, students and  professionals alike. Erin graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri (B.S. in music education) and the University of Washington (M.A. in music education, emphasis in instrumental conducting).  She is a member of the National Association for Music Education, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, International Society for Music Education, National Band Association, Women Band Directors International, and Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity.