Our History
Winchendon Winds was founded in 2015 by Jon Nicholson, Ed.D, an accomplished music educator, music program developer and conductor with sixty-five years of professional experience. For twenty years, until he retired after the 2014 season, Dr. Nicholson conducted the Townsend Military Band, which played weekly from Memorial Day through August each summer. A long-time resident of Winchendon who served as a Trustee of the Beals Memorial Library, Dr. Nicholson believed that Winchendon would enjoy and be enriched by a similar concert series. Many of the musicians in his network were excited and eager to play with the new band, which set high standards for the caliber of the music and skill of the players. Winchendon Winds played five Sunday afternoon concerts in the summer of 2015 to growing and enthusiastic audiences.
Dr. Nicholson passed away in October, 2015. His daughters, the Reverend Inanna Arthen (Unitarian Universalist Church of Winchendon) and Jill Nicholson Sackett (resident of Winchendon) are continuing Winchendon Winds.
Our Conductors
Dr. Lindsay Bronnenkant directs the Symphony Band, teaches conducting classes, and leads a graduate conducting seminar at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Prior to her appointment at UMass Amherst, Bronnenkant taught basic conducting at Nazareth College and led the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Community Wind Ensemble as she completed a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Conducting degree at the Eastman School of Music. In her time at Eastman, she served as Assistant/Associate Conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensembles, Assistant Conductor and Teaching Assistant for the University of Rochester Wind Symphony, and Teaching Assistant for basic conducting classes. She was a Frederick Fennell Conducting Fellow and a finalist for the Eastman School of Music Teaching Assistant Prize.
Prior to her graduate studies, Bronnenkant was the Director of Bands at the Aquinas Institute of Rochester, Director of the University of Rochester Pep Band, Director of the Newark High School Parade Band, and Interim Conductor of the Brighton Symphony Orchestra. She has additionally assistant directed the Eastman Community Music School Summer High School Wind Ensemble Workshop each summer since 2010.
Bronnenkant has had the opportunity to conduct premier ensembles such as the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the University of Michigan Symphony Band, and the United States Army Band "Pershing's Own" at their 2017 Conductor Showcase Concert. A recipient of the American Prize Career Encouragement Certificate in wind conducting, she has also been invited to work with school, youth, and community ensembles on original and classic works.
As a composer, Bronnenkant wrote her first work for wind ensemble, Symphony for Singer, self-taught at 18 years old. Her first published work, Tarot (2021), was designated the runner-up to the 2021 National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest. The piece is based on original research on Gustav Holst and was presented as part of Bronnenkant's doctoral conducting recital and lecture presentation.
Bronnenkant holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music (D.M.A. Wind Conducting, '22), the University of Michigan (M.M. Wind Conducting, '19), Nazareth College (B.M. Music Education, '14), and the University of Rochester (B.S. Brain and Cognitive Sciences, '10). Her conducting mentors include Mark Scatterday, Michael Haithcock, Jared Chase, and Nancy Strelau, and she has taken composition lessons with Keane Southard, Nancy Strelau, Christopher Winders, David Liptak, and Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez. Bronnenkant is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi, and she is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma. Additional professional affiliations include the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), the National Band Association (NBA), the College Music Society (CMS), and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).
Assistant Conductor Eric (Rick) Anderson has been a music educator for over 40 years at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels as well as working with adult learners in private lessons and community bands. While teaching at the high school he founded and conducted for several years the Keene Area Band, a mentor band for young musicians in grades 4 and 5. Rick also served as assistant director of the Keene Elementary Band, an activity designed on the principles of the Keene Area Band. Rick retired the spring of 2015 after 27 years as Director of Bands and music teacher at Keene High School, Keene, New Hampshire.
In addition to conducting school bands Rick has been active with several community bands. While teaching in Vermont he helped to re-form the Hanover-Norwich Community Band (now the Upper Valley Community Band) building on the band's history and creating a strong musical ensemble. As a performer he is an active trumpet player performing with various ensembles including big bands, concert bands, orchestras, pit orchestras, small ensembles, and general business bands. He has performed for as a soloist for church services, weddings, funerals, and various special occasions. Rick is a regular performer with the Vermont Jazz Center Big Band, the Monadnock Brass Quintet, a former member of the Tom Foolery Band, and is a founding and current member of the Keene Jazz Orchestra. Rick has been active in local and state music organizations and festivals. He is a retired member of the NH Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education and was a founding member of the Monadnock Valley Music Festival.
Rick received his Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst. He completed his Graduate studies as a graduate assistant instructor at Indiana University/Bloomington concentrating on both trumpet performance and band literature and conducting. His conducting instructors include Dr. John Jenkins, Dr. William Gaver, Stephen Pratt, and Ray Cramer. His trumpet instructors include Walter Chesnut, Stephen Plank, Charles Gorham, and Allan Dean.