About | NightMusik.com
LESLIE GILREATH
is in his 20th year as the Director of Bands at Summerville High School in Summerville, South Carolina where he conducts all the program’s Wind Ensembles. He is a native of Anderson, South Carolina and a graduate of Furman University where he majored in music theory and studied conducting and orchestration with Jay Bocook. He studied composition and orchestration with composers, Michael Hennagin and Carolyn Bremer at the University of Oklahoma. He has been the recipient of Citations of Excellence and Citations of Merit for Marching Excellence from the National Band Association. He is a National Board Certified Teacher, the 2011 Summerville High School Teacher of the Year and a Dorchester District Honor Teacher of the Year, currently serving as the Fine Arts Department Chair at Summerville High School. Summerville Concert Ensembles receive consistent superior ratings and have been featured at SCMEA and MENC Southern Division Conferences. The Summerville Marching Band has been a medalist in SCBDA 5A Championships ten times since 2004 and hold six State Championships in the band’s history. The Summerville Competitive Performance Ensemble has been a Bands of America Regional and Super Regional Finalist. Marching Bands across the US have performed his arrangements, and his works for concert band will be available in 2018 from C. Alan Publications. He is Chair of the SCBDA Marching Committee, a member of Phi Beta Mu, and holds professional affiliations with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the South Carolina Music Educators Association (SCMEA), the South Carolina Band Directors Association, the National Band Association, and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). He also currently serves as Brass Arranger for the BLUE KNIGHTS Drum and Bugle Corps of Denver, CO.
BILL REGISTER
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Mr. Register’s diverse and well-rounded professional experience includes proficiency in the musical arts as both an educator and a performer, as well as business expertise as an entrepreneur. He also spent time in the military, serving in the United States Marine Corps. He was a member of the USMC music program during that time.
In 1990, he earned an undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina (USC), where he studied with the USC School of Music’s current Distinguished Professor Emeritus James A. Hall, Sr. While attending college, Mr. Register performed with USC’s symphonic band and percussion ensemble, and arranged percussion for The Carolina Band. He also performed with the South Carolina Philharmonic in Columbia, South Carolina.
Also in 1990, Mr. Register became involved with the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps in Fort Mill, South Carolina, where he held various roles including Percussion Caption Head and Arranger, Program Coordinator, Staff Coordinator, and Director of Operations. His commitment to excellence helped propel the corps to win a Drum Corps International (DCI) Division II World Championship in 1993. The corps earned its first showing in DCI’s elite "Top 12" in 1995.
In 1997, Mr. Register became Director of Percussion at Fort Mill High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina, where he developed the percussion program into a premier scholastic music education organization. Under his direction, the percussion ensemble became a two-time holder of the Winter Guard International Scholastic Concert World Championship.
In 2005, Mr. Register founded Marching Monk, a company that provides music, design and program coordination services for marching bands and all things in the marching arts. Mr. Register named the business after his beloved boxer, Monk, who was given to him by his percussion students in 2004. Although Monk passed away in 2016, the boxer continues to serve as the inspiration for the business and is recognized as an honorary member of Mr. Register’s percussion ensemble. Today, Mr. Register plays most often with his two younger boxers, Tucker and Ollie. He currently serves as the Director of Percussion at Summerville High School in Summerville, SC.
