Dr. Kristin Jerí, Guest Conductor
Dr. Jerí is Instructor of Music and Assistant Director of Bands at Winthrop University where she teaches undergraduate courses in music education and directs the Symphonic Band. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she received her Doctor of Musical Arts in instrumental conducting with Dr. Jonathan Caldwell. At UNCG, she taught courses in undergraduate conducting and directed the UNCG Concert Band. Prior to UNCG, she taught middle and high school band in Tennessee for six years. Kristin served as the Assistant Conductor of the Duke Wind Symphony in Durham, NC from 2023–2024.
Dr. Daniel A. Belongia, Guest Conductor
Dr. Daniel A. Belongia is professor of music and Director of Bands at Arkansas Tech University.
Previous teaching appointments include serving as a tenured faculty member of the Illinois State University School of Music from 2005 – 2015, and as a public-school band director at the middle and high school levels in Florida and Texas. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting from Michigan State University, where he was a Kenneth G. Bloomquist Fellow and served as teaching assistant in wind conducting at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he earned the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education and performance.
As trombone soloist, he can be heard on the University of Miami Wind Ensemble compact disk, New Music for Winds and Percussion, and he is conductor, editor, and producer of the Naxos “Wind Band Classics” recording Point Blank. His research has been published in the Journal of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles, the journal of The International Society for the Investigation and Promotion of Wind Music, the National Band Association Journal, the Instrumentalist Magazine, Keynotes Magazine, and multiple volumes of the Teaching Music through Performance in Band and Teaching Music Through Performance in Beginning Band reference series. He is a former marching member of The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps and was a performing member of the Star of Indiana, “Brass Theater” featuring the Canadian Brass. He has served on the staff of several drum corps in a variety of capacities.
Dr. Belongia has presented concerts and clinics at diverse events such the regional and national conventions of the College Band Directors National Association as well as Bands of America Grand National Championships. He is an active guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Professional affiliations include the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association, the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, The Conductor's Guild, the National Association for Music Education, Phi Beta Mu, and he is proud to serve as an Educational Clinician for the Conn Selmer Corporation.
Dates/Times
Thursday, November 20:
4 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. (Check-in & ensemble placements)
8 p.m. - Opening Ceremony (Performance by Winthrop University Wind Symphony)
Friday, November 21:
8 a.m. – Ensemble assignments
8:30 a.m. – Morning rehearsal begins
11:30 a.m. – Lunch (on your own)
1 p.m. – Return to rehearsal spaces
1:30 p.m.–2:45 p.m. – Masterclasses (Winthrop University Faculty)
3 p.m. – Evening rehearsal begins
7 p.m. – Students dismissed
Saturday, November 22:
8 a.m. – Morning rehearsal begins
9 a.m. – Scholarship Auditions for registered students
11:30 a.m. – Lunch (on your own – change into concert attire)
1:30 p.m. – Afternoon rehearsal begins
3 p.m. – Invitational Band Clinic Concerts
Student participants will be selected from a list of director nominations. Once selected, students will complete a playing assessment for Winthrop University faculty. Participants will then be divided into two bands. Each band will rehearse and perform with one of our expert clinicians.
Nominations must be submitted online no later than Friday, September 26, 2025. Directors will be notified of decisions regarding student selection during the week of October 6th.
To access the Nomination Form CLICK HERE.
Need a schedule for masterclass information
Parking passes will be given out free of charge at the WU IBC Opening Ceremony.
•Map of parking areas around campus
Each student will be assessed for part placement by the Winthrop University faculty. Students are to prepare a short etude or an excerpt from a solo. Sight-reading and scales MAY be part of the audition. Percussionists will sight-read only and should be prepared to play timpani, mallets, and snare drum.
Scholarships and entrance auditions will be held on Saturday, November 22nd at 9 a.m.
Interested Seniors are to fill out an application and read the audition requirements no later than (TBA) to arrange an audition time.
The 44th Annual Invitational Band Clinic will be held on Thursday, November 20 at 8 p.m. in Byrnes Auditorium. All students and directors are invited to attend a concert performed by our very own Winthrop University Ensembles located in Byrnes Auditorium.
Selected students can find housing at Rock Hill-area hotels either by calling or browsing travel sites online (hotels.com, Trivago, hotwire.com, Kayak, etc.). All housing arrangements are the responsibility of the student, parent, and/or band director. We have provided a list of hotels that participants have used in previous years, but you are free to make reservations wherever you wish. There are numerous restaurants available on campus and within walking distance of campus for lunch and dinner breaks.
CLARION POINTE (803) 329–1330, about 2.8 miles from Winthrop
106 Anderson Rd N, Rock Hill, SC 29730-2712
HILTON GARDEN INN ROCK HILL (803) 325–2800, about 3.1 miles from Winthrop
650 Tinsley Way, Rock Hill, SC 29730
BEST WESTERN ROCK HILL (803) 980–0400, about 3.2 miles from Winthrop
888 Riverview Rd I-77, exit 82B, Rock Hill, SC 29730
HAMPTON INN ROCK HILL (803) 325–1100, about 3.2 miles from Winthrop
2111 Tabor Drive, Rock Hill, SC 29730
CAMBRIA HOTEL ROCK HILL UNIVERSITY CENTER (803) 324–0004, about .4 miles from Winthrop
354 Technology Center Way, Rock Hill, SC 29730-0142
COUNTRY INN & SUITES BY RADISSON, ROCK HILL (803). 329–5151, about 3.0 miles from Winthrop
865 Patriot Parkway, Rock Hill, SC 29730
The final concert for the Invitational Band Clinic will be held on Saturday, November 22nd at 3 p.m. in Byrnes Auditorium on the Winthrop University Campus. Students should dress in their school concert band uniform. All guests are welcome to attend at no additional charge. Parking is available on the Winthrop University campus.
For more information please contact:
Kristin Jerí
Instructor of Music, Assistant Director of Bands
Office: 121 Conservatory of Music
Phone: 803/323-4216
E-mail: jerik@winthrop.edu