Bob Chreste
Arranger/Consultant
BC Band Solutions LLC
Biography
Bob Chreste is an active arranger, consultant, and adjudicator residing in Pflugerville, Texas. Bob spent 16 years as a high school band director at several prominent programs in Texas. Those schools include Cedar Park HS, Stephen F. Austin HS, Berkner HS, and Weiss HS. During his career, Mr. Chreste’s marching bands qualified for the UIL State Marching Contest every year that the contest was held for his school’s classification. His marching bands were also perennial finalists at Bands of America events across Texas. Some additional highlights from his career include being named the 2011 UIL 4A Texas State Marching Champion and being a finalist at the 2010 Bands of America Grand National Championships while he was the marching band director at Cedar Park. In 2018, in only their 2nd year of existence, Weiss HS became the youngest school to ever make the finals of Bands of America Super Regional event.
Mr. Chreste is currently on the brass staff for the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps. He also spent nine years on the brass faculty for the Carolina Crown Drum & Bugle Corps. During his time with Carolina Crown, the brass section won multiple Jim Ott Memorial High Brass Awards at the DCI World Championships. Bob is also one of only a few instructors in DCI that have been both a brass caption head and a visual caption head at a finalist corps. In 2008, he was the brass caption head for the Santa Clara Vanguard, and in 2016, he was the visual caption head for The Cadets.
Bob is also an adjudicator for both marching and concert competitions across the United States. He is currently judging for Bands of America, Winter Guard International, the Texas Music Adjudicators Association, and several other local, regional, and state-level competitions.
Bob has an accomplished performing background as well. In 2001 and 2002, he was the conductor and a musician in the Tony and Emmy Award-winning musical production, Blast! Prior to that, Bob marched with the Cadets of Bergen County Drum & Bugle Corps from 1996 through 1998.
His educational background includes receiving his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Houston in 2000 and his Master of Music degree from Sam Houston State University in 2003. While at Sam Houston State University, Bob was a graduate teaching assistant under the direction of Matthew McInturf.
Bob’s professional affiliations include the Texas Music Educators Association, the Texas Bandmasters Association, the Texas Music Adjudicators Association, the Association of Texas Professional Educators and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
Session Titles
A Practical and Streamlined Approach to Teaching Marching Fundamentals
Teacher
This clinic will explore a variety of marching styles and compare their strengths and drawbacks. The clinician will then explain the techniques he uses for developing a strong, cohesive, and efficient fundamental marching program and how it is applied within the drill itself.
Creating Excellence in Your Marching Winds
Teacher
Who says you can’t run a high school marching band like a world class drum & bugle corps? Through a “keep it simple” approach, you can develop a championship level approach to marching wind playing. In creating excellence with your marching winds, you should set up a very efficient and concise plan for your playing fundamentals. Strive to make the ensemble sound great on the simple exercises and encourage the students to apply those sounds to their show music.
Summer Band: Systems and processes are the key!
Teacher
Setting the culture from day 1 of summer band is imperative, and student ownership is key. In Part 2, we will discuss systems and processes, and how setting them up from the beginning will help you succeed in the end. The staff should discuss a wide variety of systems ranging from marching fundamentals, to the "how to's" of the daily operations surrounding the band program.
The Cleaning Process: Excellence is in the details
Teacher
The details matter! In this part of our series, we will offer creative ways to help you clean your marching band, both musically and visually. As creativity evolves in the marching activity, we must also create ways to ensure that our students are still able to achieve at a high level.
The Spring Semester: Planning a successful marching season
Teacher
Organization and planning are keys to the success of any endeavor. In the first part of the series, the presenters will highlight details to address in the Spring Semester prior to the marching season you are preparing for. The discussion will center largely around show design, with additional dialogue on contest selection, staffing, end-of-year camps, spring equipment orders, and band registration.