CCB- Directors

John G. Patterson

Music Director

John Patterson received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He was Director of Bands at Hickman High School from 1966 to 2000, and held the position of Director of Music for the Columbia Public Schools from 1975 to 2000. During the 2001-2002 year Mr. Patterson served as Visiting Associate Director of Bands at the University of Missouri.

Mr. Patterson served as president of both the Missouri Bandmasters Association and the Missouri Music Educators Association. Since 1999 he has served as the Assistant Director for The Columbia Community Band. He was appointed Music Director for The Columbia Community Band upon the retirement of Music Director Keith House.

He is active as a clinician, adjudicator and conductor. His professional memberships include The Music Educators National Conference, The National Band Association, The Missouri Music Educators Association, The Missouri Bandmasters Association and the International Clarinet Association.

In 1981 Mr. Patterson received the Citation of Merit from the MU Alumni Association, and in 1991 he was honored by the Missouri State High School Activities Association as the Outstanding Missouri Music Educator. He has been inducted into the Missouri Bandmaster's Hall of Fame, the MMEA Hall of Fame, and the Marching Mizzou Hall of Fame. Mr. Patterson was named a recipient of the Missouri Arts Award in 2001 by the Missouri Arts Council.

Thomas O'Neal

Assistant Director

Dr. Thomas O’Neal is the Director of Bands at the University of Missouri. He conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, teaches graduate conducting courses, and guides all aspects of the MU band program, which includes seven performing ensembles.

Dr. O'Neal was selected to serve as an Assistant Director for The Columbia Community Band in October, 2005.

A native Iowan, Dr. O’Neal received a bachelor of music education degree from Iowa State University in Ames, the master of music degree from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, and the doctor of musical arts degree in conducting from the University of Arizona in Tucson. His professional memberships include The Missouri Educators Association, The Missouri Band Masters Association, The College Band Directors National Association, and The World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.

Ensembles under Dr. O’Neal’s direction have been featured at state, regional, and national music conferences. In 2006, The University of Missouri Symphonic Wind Ensemble will be featured at the Missouri Music Educators Association Conference and the College Band Directors National Association Conference. Additionally, Dr. O’Neal maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor and clinician, having appeared with bands and orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America.

Paul Copenhaver

Assistant Director

Paul Copenhaver was band director in the Moberly (Missouri) Public Schools for 33 years, retiring in 2006. He currently teaches band at St. Pius X School in Moberly. He has served as associate band director for the University of Missouri, brass instructor at Central Methodist University; and as an instructor for the Thousand Hills Summer Youth Band Camps, Central Missouri State University Music Camp, and Southeast Missouri State University Band Camp.

Mr. Copenhaver was selected to serve as an Assistant Director for The Columbia Community Band in September, 2008.

He has served as a conductor for many all-conference and all-district bands, as a clinician at various state, regional, and national conferences, and has a number of published articles in professional journals and magazines.

Mr. Copenhaver has served as Chairperson of the Missouri All-State Band, President of the Missouri Bandmasters Association, and Vice-President and President of the Northeast Missouri Music Educators Association. He is currently the President of the Missouri Music Educators Association.

Mr. Copenhaver serves the Missouri State High School Activities Association as an instrumental music adjudicator trainer, and chair of the brass subcommittee for the MSHSAA Graded Music List. He received the National Federation of High School Association Outstanding Music Educator Award in 2005, and the NFHS Section V Outstanding Music Educator Award in 2006.

Mr. Copenhaver is a charter member of the International Trumpet Guild, a member of the Missouri Music Educators Association, Missouri Bandmasters Association, National Band Association, National Catholic Band Association, NFHS Music Association, National Education Association, and a number of other professional organizations.

John Everett Cheetham

Composer in Residence

Dr. John E. Cheetham, Professor Emeritus of Music Theory and Composition at the University of Missouri-Columbia, was born in Taos, New Mexico in 1939. He received his Bachelor and Masters degrees from the University of New Mexico in 1962 and 1965, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Washington in 1969.

During his tenure at Missouri from 1969 to 2000, he has written compositions for virtually all media and his works have been widely performed in the United States and abroad. Much of his music has been published commercially and most recently through his newly established publishing firm, BoonesLick Press. Recordings of many of his works are available on Crystal, Concord, Pro-Arte, Summit and NPR Classic labels.

In addition, Dr. Cheetham has been granted numerous commissions including those from the Kentucky Derby Museum, Texas Tech University, Atlanta Symphony Brass Quintet, Central Oklahoma Directors Association, Springfield (MO) Symphony, Summit Brass and the Air Force Band of the Midwest, as well as from several individual soloists.

Dr. Cheetham is a member of ASCAP and has received ASCAP Special Awards from 1988 through the present. In 1992 he won the Abraham Frost Prize in Composition and has also been the recipient of a Centennial Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of New Mexico.