Overview
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Dr. Timothy Shade is the Director of the School of Music, Director of Bands, and Coordinator
of the Graduate Wind Conducting Program at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.
His previous appointments include Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Alhambra
Orchestra (FL), Visiting Director of Orchestras at Florida Atlantic University, and
Director of Instrumental Music at Bethel College (KS). He has garnered praise for
his exciting programming, engaging personality, and “marvelous conducting.”
Equally comfortable in the orchestral and wind realms, Shade has worked with organizations such as the Wichita Wind Ensemble, the Greater Miami Symphonic Band, The New River Orchestra, The Frost Wind Ensemble, The Florida Youth Symphony, The Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra, The Delano Chamber Orchestra, The Wichita Youth Symphony Orchestra, The Tidewater Brass Institute, and the Fredericksburg Brass Institute. Some of Dr. Shade’s accolades include being third prize winner in the American Prize Wind Conductor Collegiate Division in 2018-19, being named the Kansas Bandmasters Association “Outstanding Young Bandmaster” in 2012, and the 2019 WSU College of Fine Arts Mickey and Pete Armstrong Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.
Ensembles under Dr. Shade’s direction have performed for local, regional, and national audiences to great acclaim. The WSU Wind Ensemble received the 2018-19 American Prize for Collegiate Wind Ensemble Performance, performed at the 2022 & 2018 CBDNA Southwest Conferences in Waco, TX and Houston, TX respectively, and performed at the 2018 KMEA In-Service Workshop. Recent premieres and collaborative projects include the North American Premiere of “The Path to Heaven” an opera for winds and voices by Adam Gorb, the World Premiere of “Symphony No. 2” by James Syler, and a project entitled “Dante’s Nightmares and Dreams” a program for wind ensemble, dancers, and film.
As a performer, Dr. Shade has played in venues from New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Carnival Cruise Lines’ m.s. Inspiration. An active euphonium performer, Dr. Shade has given more than 100 performances in recitals and as a guest soloist. He has appeared with the Youngstown State University Wind Ensemble, the Dana All-Star Band, the Dana Chamber Orchestra, the W.D. Packard Band, the University of Miami Symphonic Winds, the Greater Miami Symphonic Band, Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra, and the Wichita Wind Ensemble, among others. A proponent for new music, Dr. Shade has premiered several new works and is always on the lookout for more repertoire for the euphonium. In the fall of 2011, Dr. Shade commissioned and premiered PARALLAX by Thomas Sleeper. PARALLAX was recently released on the album "Thomas Sleeper Symphony No. 3" with Shade as the soloist. Also a busy jazz trombonist, Dr. Shade has shared the stage with many well-known performers such as Wessell “Warm Daddy” Anderson, John Clayton, Harold Danko, Joey DeFrancesco, Conrad Herwig, Sean Jones, Darren Kramer, Wynton Marsalis, Jim McNeely, Bernadette Peters, and the Modernaires.
The promotion and creation of new music is a passion of Shade's. He has been involved in over 25 commissions and has worked with composers such as David Maslanka, Andrew Boysen Jr., Steven Bryant, Edward Largent, James Leatherbarrow, Jonathan Newman, Christopher Rouse, Michael Daugherty, Roberto Sierra, Paul Rudy, Steve Danyew, Derek Jenkins, Thomas Sleeper, Paul Dooley, and James Syler. Shade’s recent world premiere performances include This World Alive Steve Danyew, Mundus Novus by Javier Albornoz, A Familiar Journey by Christopher Jones, Orbits by Robert Tindle, and Symphony No. 2 by James Syler. Current projects include an audience participation/media and wind ensemble piece from Derek Jenkins and a new wind ensemble with film project utilizing Ion Concert Media’s live media sync software, Muséik.