Session Proposals

Dr. Matthew Mailman is Professor of Conducting in the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University, a position he has held since 1995. Dr. Mailman has had extensive and diverse experience conducting bands, operas, musicals, orchestras, choirs, and chamber music. He serves as Music Director of OCU's award-winning Wind Ensemble and Wind Philharmonic and a Music Director for the Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company.

At OCU, Dr. Mailman has conducted fifty-eight operas and musicals and has led the Wind Ensemble and Wind Philharmonic in eighteen world premieres, on seven tours, at two OK Mozart Festivals, and at ten convention performances. He teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting and coordinates OCU's Masters in Conducting program.

A champion of new music, he has collaborated with many significant composers, including Nico Muhly, Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, Catherine Likhuta, Michael Daugherty, Frank Ticheli, Karel Husa, Jack Stamp, Martin Mailman, Ron Nelson, Judy Bozone, Brian Balmages, Edward Knight, and Cindy McTee.

Dr. Mailman has been an associate conductor with the Oklahoma Youth Orchestras, Inc. since 1997, and is the Music Director of the Oklahoma Youth Winds, which was founded by Dr. Mailman in 2004 and which was selected to perform for the first time at the 2013 Oklahoma Music Educators Association Annual In-service and again in 2015 and 2017. With OYW, he founded the Annual Student Conductor Competition, the OYW National Composition Competition, and the OYW/ NAfME Teaching Internship. His work has been published in The Instrumentalist and Teaching Music, and he is a research associate and writer for 9 volumes in the series Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. For five years, Dr. Mailman hosted a weekly radio program, "No Strings Attached”, on 90.1 FM KCSC Edmond-Oklahoma City/ 91.9 KBCW McAlester during which time he wrote and produced 180 new shows.

Dr. Mailman has been a finalist for the American Prize in Conducting 8 times and has placed 2nd 4 times. He is the 2023 BroadwayWorld Oklahoma winner for Best Music Director & Orchestral Performance and was a finalist in the 2023 Warsaw Wind Band Conducting Competition. He music directed Sunday in the Park With George for El Paso Opera in April/May 2024. As Conductor/Artist in Residence at Opera in the Ozarks, he conducted Carlisle Floyd's opera Susannah in the summer of 2007 and Mozart's Cosí fan Tutte in 2008.

Dr. Mailman is the founder and owner of CJ Studios in Oklahoma City where he writes songs and records them playing all of the instruments and singing all of the vocals. His songs are on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, iTunes, and Amazon Music.

Dr. Mailman is a native of Denton, Texas. He earned his bachelor of music and master of music degrees from Northwestern University where he studied with John P. Paynter. He earned his doctorate in conducting at the University of North Texas where he studied with Eugene Corporon and Anshel Brusilow.

Time is the one resource we all share, yet it’s often the most misunderstood and mismanaged—especially in the fast-paced world of music education. “It’s About Time!” is a thought-provoking and practical clinic designed for music educators seeking to reimagine how they think about, utilize, and teach time.

This session will explore several essential dimensions of time: philosophical, psychological, pedagogical, and musical. We’ll begin with a deeper dive into the fundamental question: What is time, really? From there, we’ll examine how our personal and cultural perceptions of time influence our rehearsal planning, teaching strategies, and interactions with students. We’ll look at how time manifests in music itself—tempo, rhythm, phrasing—and how our treatment of time in the ensemble setting affects both musical outcomes and student experience.

Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for improving time management in rehearsals and classrooms, fostering greater efficiency, clarity, and musical growth. We’ll discuss how intentionality with time can lead to more engaged students, stronger performances, and healthier work-life balance for educators.

This clinic is relevant for band, choir, orchestra, and general music teachers at all levels. Whether you’re feeling the daily pressure of tight rehearsal schedules or just curious about how the concept of time underpins everything we do as educators and musicians, this session will offer insight, inspiration, and immediately usable tools.

Because after all… it’s about time!

• Band - Middle School
• Band - Secondary
• Choral - Middle School
• Choral - Secondary
• Orchestra - Middle School
• Orchestra - Secondary
• Collegiate
• Mentorship/Beginning Teachers