HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR 3RD ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM

December 13-15, 2024 at Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN

The 2024 Southeastern Women in Music Symposium brought together over 100 participants from more than 30 schools for a weekend dedicated to learning, growth, and community. This year’s theme of legacy and leadership came to life in the culminating concert, which featured the premiere of "History of Tomorrow" by Dayla Spencer — a commissioned work inspired by Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America.

Our Clinician - Dr. Erin Bodnar

Dr. Erin Bodnar is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at the University of North Florida, where she conducts the Wind Symphony and Concert Band, instructs courses in conducting, and coordinates the UNF Conducting Symposium.

Under Dr. Bodnar’s baton, the UNF Wind Symphony performed at the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Buñol, Spain in July 2019. The UNF NuMIX, co-directed by Dr. Bodnar and Dr. Venet, performed at the College Band Directors National Association Southern Division Conference in February 2022.

Prior to her appointment at UNF, Dr. Bodnar was Director of Bands at Graceland University for four years, during which time the Symphonic Band performed at the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference. During 2013–2014, Dr. Bodnar was the conductor of the Wind Symphony and Orchestra at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dr. Bodnar maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor and clinician, traveling to Argentina, Thailand, Indonesia, and throughout the United States and Canada.

She has contributed to A Composer's Insight: Thoughts, Analysis and Commentary on Contemporary Masterpieces for Wind Band, Volume 5, the GIA Teaching Music Through Performance Series for Volume 7, and the revised Volume 1.

She excelled at teaching both middle and high school band in Alberta, Canada, for which she received the Keith Mann Young Band Director’s Award and the Edwin Parr First Year Teacher Award.

Dr. Bodnar has presented at conferences in Canada, the United States, Scotland, Thailand, and Austria. Her research interests include conducting pedagogy and motor cognition, and her articles have been published in the Journal of Music Teacher Education and Music Perception.

An avid runner and group fitness instructor, Dr. Bodnar has completed 55 marathons, including 6 Boston Marathons, ten 50 km races, and one 100 km race.

Our Composer - Dayla Spencer

Dayla D. Spencer (b. 1 September 2005, Memphis, Tenn.) is a composer, arranger, and trombonist from Nashville, Tennessee.

Spencer primarily writes for chamber winds and wind band. She has had her original works performed by ensembles from around the United States including the University of North Carolina-Greensboro TubaBand, the Las Vegas Youth Saxophone Ensembles, the New Jersey City University Symphony of Winds and Percussion, and the University of Oklahoma Trombone Choir, among others. Her works have been performed at various conferences including the International Trombone Festival and the Southeastern Tuba Euphonium Conference (SERTEC). Her works have been professionally recorded by artists such as Algirdas Matonis (known as "Matonizz") and the Paper Clips Trombone Quartet (based in Minneapolis, Minn.).

Spencer is an alumna of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra’s Accelerando Pathways program, where she studied privately with composer Cristina Spinei and trombonist Nick Laufer. While in the program, she participated in the 2023 National Pathways Festival Orchestra as assistant principal trombonist. She also attended the prestigious Interlochen Arts Camp (Composition '23), where she was recognized as a Fromm Foundation Fellow. Spencer credits the Accelerando program for helping her discover her passion for composing and her decision to pursue music as a career.

She was accepted into the Emerging Composers Program for the 2024 Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival at the Juilliard School of Music. Her work, "Abstract" (for trombone ensemble), was also accepted into the 2024 International Trombone Festival Composers Workshop in Fort Worth, Texas and performed by the International Womens Trombone Choir. In 2023, her piece "Carbon Fiber" for euphonium quartet was the winner of category 4 of the University of Florida School of Music Call for Scores by Women Composers, set to be performed by the UF Euphonium Quartet.

Spencer is one of eight founding members of the Nu Black Vanguard, a composers collective dedicated to the promotion and advancement of Black composers in the medium of music; the other seven founding members are Kevin Day, Katahj Copley, Marie A. Douglas, Benjamin Horne, Kelijah Dunton, JaRod Hall, and Adrian B. Sims.

Spencer currently majors in music theory and composition at Montclair State University (Montclair, N.J.), where she studies composition privately with Patrick Burns.

Workshops & Sessions

A restorative Tai Chi, yoga, and meditation session led by clinician Dr. Erin Bodnar, offering musicians practical tools to reduce stress, improve focus, and support long-term physical and mental wellness both on and off the stage.

An interactive, high-energy session led by Danielle Taylor — elementary music rockstar from Metro Nashville Public Schools — packed with strategies to build confidence, sharpen interview skills, and own your voice with power.

Participants joined virtual sessions with the composers of our concert literature, gaining personal insight into the works performed. They had the opportunity to ask questions and engage in meaningful discussions — including with Nubia Jaime-Donjuan (Monarch Migration) and Marie Douglas (Big City Lights).