The Directors
Michael ChanceScott Carrell
Wesley Parker
Michael Chance
Dr. Chance became the Director of Bands at Harding University in 1996 after a 21-year career directing high school bands in the public schools of Texas. In 1998 he was appointed the director of the University Orchestra as well. He holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in music with teacher certification from Lubbock Christian University and the Master of Music degree in trombone performance from Midwestern State University and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Memphis. His directing responsibilities at Harding include the University Wind Ensemble, the University/Community Orchestra, and various chamber music and special project groups within the department of music. Teaching responsibilities include advanced instrumental conducting, low brass private lessons and band and orchestra literature and techniques. He also serves as the department's coordinator of instrumental studies.
Chance's 23-year performance career includes posts as a trombonist with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, San Angelo Symphony Orchestra, Red River Lyric Opera Orchestra, San Angelo Community Band, and the Pine Bluff Symphony Orchestra. He also has performed with the Midland-Odessa Symphony Orchestra, Big Spring Symphony Orchestra, and South-Ark Symphony Orchestra. He is currently in his seventh season as principal trombonist with the Little Rock Wind Symphony and was appointed Assistant Conductor of that organization in 2010.
Chance is a frequent guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician for band and orchestra festivals and competitions in Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas. He directs the Searcy Community Band and is a board member of the Searcy Community School of Music. Professional memberships include the Arkansas Bandmasters Association, the College Band Directors National Association and Phi Beta Mu, Texas Music Educators Association and the College Orchestra Directors Association. He is a past president of the Arkansas unit of the College Band Directors National Association.
Chance and his wife Carla, a chemistry/physical science teacher at Searcy High School and a violinist, are the parents of three grown sons.
Scott Carrell
A native of Texas, Dr. Carrell's responsibilities include directing the Jazz Band in the Fall semesters, teaching theory and ear training courses, as well as a private piano instructor. Dr. Carrell has performed numerous recitals as soloist and as collaborator, including concerto appearances with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the Pine Bluff Symphony Orchestra, the Southwestern University Orchestra, the Plainview Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra, the Little Rock Wind Symphony, and twice with the Harding University/Community Orchestra.
Dr. Carrell received his degrees from Southwestern University, the University of Illinois, and the D.M.A. from the University of North Texas. The French Piano Institute awarded him a prize for the best performance of a work by Henri Dutilleux in 1996. He was also honored with the Distinguished Teacher Award from Harding University for the 2003-2004 academic year. He is married to Dr. Cindy Carrell and they have three children, Ethan, Emily, and Julia.
Wesley Parker
Dr. Parker serves as the Director of Athletic Bands and Instructor of Percussion at Harding University, a position he assumed in the Fall of 2010. In addition these reponsibilities, he is also an adjunct percussion instructor at Arkansas State University- Beebe in Beebe, AR. Prior to coming to Harding, Dr. Parker held the position of adjunct percussion instructor at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, FL.
Dr. Parker completed his doctoral studies in percussion performance at Florida State University, a Master's Degree in percussion performance from the University of Kentucky, and a Bachelor's Degree in percussion performance from the University of Memphis. His percussion teachers include Dr. John W. Parks IV, James Campbell, and Dr. Frank Shaffer. He has also received training in ethnic percussion from Ed Murray and drum set from Don Patterson. Dr. Parker has taught at many award winning high schools throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, and Arkansas, including the BOA Grand National Finalist Lafayette High School in Lexington, KY, and Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, FL, which was recently invited to play at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. He recently completed a tenure as the President of the Arkansas chapter of the Percussive Arts Society.
Professional performing experiences include the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Parker also keeps an active freelance schedule as a percussionist, teacher, arranger, and adjudicator. He is a proud endorser of Innovative Percussion, and a member of the Black Swamp Percussion Educator Network, College Band Directors National Association, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Kappa Phi, Golden Key International Honour Society, and The Gamma Beta Phi Society.