Invitational Band Clinic

Joel L. Denton served as Director of Bands at Ooltewah High School for thirty-seven
years. Mr. Denton is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and has completed
graduate studies at UT-Chattanooga. Mr. Denton currently serves as an adjunct instructor
of Instrumental Music Education at Lee University. Prior to his retirement in 2018, he
was recognized as a CMA Music Teacher of Excellence. Under his direction, the
Ooltewah Band achieved a national reputation for musical excellence including
performances in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2013 and 2007, as the only
band in the 2011 Disney Christmas Parade on ABC, and in the 2017 Tournament of
Roses Parade. The Ooltewah Band was a consistent finalist at Bands of America
Regional Championships being awarded multiple class championships and placements,
and was a national semi-finalist on multiple occasions with several class placements. The
Ooltewah concert bands performed at the Music for All Southeast Regional Concert
Festival in 2016, the TMEA (TN) State Music Conference in 2014 and 2010, the Smoky
Mountain Music Festival in 2011(Grand Concert Division Champions), and multiple
other state, regional and national events through the years. At the 2015 Midwest Clinic,
Mr. Denton was awarded the John Phillip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor for his
contributions to band. He served as Chairman of Fine Arts at Ooltewah from 1982 until
his retirement and was selected five times as the Ooltewah Teacher of the Year. The
Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts has thrice honored him. His professional
affiliations include National Association for Music Education, Tennessee Music
Education Association, East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, Phi Beta
Mu, National Band Association, American School Band Director Association, and
Tennessee Bandmasters Association. Mr. Denton currently serves as the Tennessee State
Chair for the National Band Association and is a Past President of the East Tennessee
Band and Orchestra Association and the Tennessee Bandmasters Association. He has
served as the State Legislative Delegate and Advocacy Chair for Tennessee Music
Education Association and served as a member of the Tennessee Department of
Education’s Fine Arts Student Growth Committee. He is active as an adjudicator,
clinician, and consultant working with Music for All/Bands of America, Drum Corps
International, several universities and state organizations, as well as, many high school
bands across the nation. Mr. Denton presents professional development sessions across
the nation and also works with band programs and other organizations on developing
leadership and teambuilding skills. Mr. Denton and Kerry, his wife of thirty-seven years,reside in Chattanooga and have two adult children, Alex and Caroline, who are both
teachers.

Alice Adkins Aldredge is currently the Director of Bands at River Oaks Middle School. She has over 32 years of experience teaching middle and high school bands in North and South Carolina. Before relocating to SC, she was the director of bands at Northwest Cabarrus Middle School and assisted at Northwest Cabarrus High School in Concord, NC. Other teaching experiences include nine years working as the Director of Bands at Croatan High School and Broad Creek Middle School in Newport, NC. During her tenure at Croatan, the program garnered national recognition at Bands of America and Winter Guard International Championship events. Additionally, she served as the Director of Bands at Scotland High School. This program was a flagship program for the Southeastern District and was selected to perform at the North Carolina Music Educators Conference. Her bands have consistently received superior ratings and she has regularly placed students in region and all state bands. She was elected to serve as President of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association and is a retired member of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association. She is also National Board Certified and holds professional membership in the prestigious American School Band Directors Association. Mrs. Aldredge is an active clinician and adjudicator for marching and concert bands and has worked in Texas, Mississippi, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Additional personal accolades include the NCBA Award of Excellence Award for the Southeastern District and Teacher of the Year awards from Carver Middle School and Northwest Cabarrus Middle School.

Mrs. Aldredge resides in Summerville with her husband Tripp and her fifteen year old son Greyson who is a proud member of the Summerville High School Band. 

David C. Allison, Retired Director of Bands, earned a Master's Degree in Music Performance from the  University of South Carolina after undergraduate studies at Ithaca College and at the Eastman  School of Music. He has taught in public schools, privately, and at the college level. He retired in June 2021 after his 17th year as the Director of Bands at Spring Valley High School, and 28 years teaching in Richland 2.

As Director of Bands at Spring Valley High School, the Spring Valley Viking Bands consistently received  numerous Superior ratings at various marching festivals and competitions. During his tenure, the  Spring Valley Symphonic Band has earned Superior ratings in Grade VI class music literature  each year at the South Carolina Band Directors’ Association (SCBDA) Concert Festivals. Under  his direction, the Spring Valley Bands have annually earned the SCBDA Outstanding  Performance Award. The Spring Valley Symphonic Band was the 2009 Grand National  Champion of the All-Star Music Festival Season, and in 2011, the Spring Valley Symphonic  Band was featured as the performing ensemble at The University of South Carolina Band Clinic and Conductors Symposium. In February of 2014, the Spring Valley Symphonic Band was featured in performance at the SCMEA South Carolina Music Educators State Conference  General Session, which was held at the Charleston Convention Center.

Students under Mr. Allison’s direction have earned seats in the South Carolina Band Directors Association’s Region Three Bands, All-State Bands, All-State Orchestra, All-State Jazz Band, Bands of America National Honor Band, MENC National Honor Band, and the BCS Bowl  National Marching Band. His students have also participated in band clinics at the University of  South Carolina, Winthrop University, Brevard, Interlochen, Ithaca College, Limestone University,  Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina University, and Furman University. Students under his direction  have earned seats in the Richland Two District Orchestra and in the South Carolina Youth  Philharmonic. Mr. Allison has had several students earn music scholarships and continue majoring in music performance and music education, and performing at the collegiate and  professional levels.

Previously, Mr. Allison served as The Director of Bands at Summit Parkway for eighteen years.  Under his direction, The Summit Parkway Bands earned superior ratings at SCBDA’s Concert  Assessment Festival for 16 consecutive years. They have earned superior ratings at Carowinds, the Orlando Festival of Music, the All-Star Music Festival in Orlando, FL, the All-American  Festival in Orlando, the Grand National Adjudicators Invitational in Chattanooga, and the Dixie  Classic Festival in Atlanta, GA. At Grand NAI, the ensemble received top honors among middle  school bands in 2000, 2002 and 2005. Under his direction, The Summit Parkway Band was a  featured performing group at the 2000, and 2008 SCMEA State Conference, the 2002 National  MENC Conference in Nashville, and the 2002 MidWest International Band and Orchestra Clinic  in Chicago.

Mr. Allison was named Teacher of the Year in 1998-1999 at Summit Parkway, and Teacher of  the Year at Spring Valley in 2016-2017. He was named in School Band & Orchestra magazine’s  Fifty Teachers Who Make a Difference in 2001, and was awarded the Citation of Excellence by  the National Bandmasters Association in 2001, 2002, 2007, 2011 and 2014. Mr. Allison has  conducted numerous region and all-state band and orchestra clinics, and has authored articles on  trumpet pedagogy for publications including the South Carolina Bandmaster and Phi Beta Mu. Mr. Allison was awarded the Outstanding  Bandmaster Award from Theta chapter of Phi Beta Mu, the international bandmasters fraternity.

As a trumpet player, Mr. Allison continues to perform in both the classical and commercial  fields, in shows, recording sessions, clinics, and teaching. He has performed with many orchestras in New York, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Georgia. He is a founding  member and solo trumpet of the Palmetto Brass, and performs in the Dick Goodwin Big Band  and the Palmetto Concert Band. Mr. Allison is Principal Trumpet Emeritus of the South Carolina Philharmonic after performing for 25 years as the Principal Trumpet. He has also appeared as guest soloist with the Savannah Symphony, the South Carolina Philharmonic, the  University of South Carolina Symphony, and the S.C. Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Allison has  performed, and continues to perform, on several performance tours with many artists including  Chuck Mangione, Doc Severinsen, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, Natalie Cole, The  Drifters, The Four Tops, Ray Charles, Olivia Newton John, and Dizzy Gillespie, to name a few. The Besson - Courtois Company has named Mr. Allison an Artist/Clinician for The Buffet  Group Trumpets.

Mr. Allison has earned National Board Re-Certification in Early Adolescence through Young  Adulthood/Music. He maintains professional affiliations with the SCBDA, NAFME, NBA, ITG,  ASBDA and Phi Beta Mu.