The New Trier High School band program consists of 150 students, including the Freshman Concert Band, Varsity Wind Ensemble, Concert Wind Ensemble, and Symphonic Wind Ensemble. Wind and percussion students are concurrently enrolled in four curricular jazz ensembles and two orchestras. New Trier maintains an in-house studio of private teachers for all wind, string, percussion, and vocal students. Nearly all students in Symphonic Wind Ensemble study privately and over 75% of all students in the wind ensemble program study privately.

Matt Temple is Director of Bands at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. He currently serves as Vice-President for the National Band Association and is a member of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Awareness (IDEA) committee. A strong advocate for student-centered instruction, Mr. Temple is co-founder and Past President of the Illinois committee for Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP). As a contributing editor for The Instrumentalist magazine, he has authored many articles over the past decade and has also served on the Advisory Committee for NAfME’s Music Educators Journal.

Mr. Temple has received the NBA Citation of Excellence multiple times and in 2015, was recognized with the Chicagoland Outstanding Music Educator Award. He has been elected into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association, American School Band Directors Association, and the honorary society, Phi Beta Mu. Mr. Temple has presented sessions on music selection, score analysis, student-centered instruction, and innovative band curriculum at multiple universities, state music conferences, and twice at the Midwest Clinic. He frequently serves as a clinician and guest conductor throughout the United States. Mr. Temple resides in Arlington Heights, Illinois, with his supportive wife, Maureen, and their teenage twins, Aiden and Annabelle.

Mr. Temple was appointed Director of Bands at New Trier High School in 2007. Under his direction, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble has performed at the Midwest Clinic, Music for All National Concert Band Festival, Illinois Music Education Conference, Chicagoland Invitational Concert Band Festival, and the University of Illinois Superstate Festival. He has also led them in performances at the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall in New York City, and throughout Italy. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble has been featured three times on Introductions presented by WFMT, Chicago’s classical music station. In 2013, The New Trier Band Program was recognized as an inaugural National Winner of the Blue Ribbon Award for “Programs of Excellence” presented by the National Band Association.

Symphony Orchestra is one of two advanced orchestras of the five curricular orchestras at New Trier High School. Symphony Orchestra is comprised of 90 wind, percussion and string players. Symphony Orchestra has been recognized by Down Beat Magazine, The Grammy Foundation and featured on “Introductions,” WFMT 98.7 Chicago’s classical radio station. This ensemble focuses on large scale works represented within the standard orchestral repertoire. Symphony Orchestra has had the honor of performing in celebrated halls such as Orchestra Hall, The Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall.

Peter Rosheger was born in Rome, Italy, where he lived for twelve years and began his violin studies at the age of nine. After living in Montana and Alaska, he attended the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts and received his B.M.E. from The Oberlin Conservatory. His violin teachers have included Paul Rosenthal, William DePasquale, Stephen Clapp, and Gregory Fulkerson.

Mr. Rosheger’s teaching career began in California. There, he led elementary and middle school programs and went on to teach elementary, middle, and high school orchestral music in Canada and Michigan. Rosheger is also the recipient of the Illinois American String Teachers Association’s “Outstanding School Teacher” and “Distinguished Service” awards. Currently in his twenty-ninth year as Director of Orchestras at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, he leads the school’s five curricular orchestras.

Under Mr. Rosheger’s direction, the New Trier High School Orchestras have received national recognition from Downbeat Magazine, The Grammy Foundation and Introductions, WFMT 98.7 Chicago’s classical radio station. Clinician credits include appearances in Michigan, Washington, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Oregon, and Illinois, and he has played in professional orchestras in California, Pennsylvania, and Canada.

Elizabeth Bennett is a graduate of Northwestern University having received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Bassoon Performance, and of Concordia University Wisconsin with a Masters in Choral Conducting and Composing.

She began at New Trier in 2021 serving as the Music & Theatre Department Chair. Bennett is a firm believer of teaching with the whole student in mind, considering physical and mental well-being, safety, and happiness to be essential parts of their music education. An active adjudicator and clinician throughout the country, Bennett has guest conducted and presented around the country and is a regular Guest Lecturer at Northwestern University. 

Bennett was recognized as a GRAMMY Music Educator top 10 finalist in 2020, and semi-finalist in 2021. Bennett was the recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Secondary Teacher Award from Northwestern University in 2015. In 2018 Mrs. Bennett was recognized with the District 214 “Elizabeth Ennis Award” as the Innovative Educator of the Year. In 2014 the University of Chicago awarded her the Outstanding Educator Award.  

Bennett holds a degree in bassoon performance; she is also an accomplished violinist and vocalist. Mrs. Bennett enjoys creative culinary adventures in her kitchen and spending quality time with her supportive husband and two daughters.

Diamond Bar High School, located in Diamond Bar, CA, one of two high schools in the Walnut Valley Unified School District, was established in 1982 and consistently ranks as one of the top public high schools in the USA. The staff at Diamond Bar believes that a successful comprehensive high school allows students to succeed in four core areas: “The Four As”: Academics, Activities, Athletics, and the Arts. Students are offered a variety of academic programs, including Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Honors classes. 86% of the students are involved in extra-curricular activities. Service clubs include Lions, Rotary, California Scholastic Federation and Key Club. The athletic department holds 19 CIF championships ranging from football to badminton. Arts students participate in 3 orchestras, 3 wind bands, competitive parade band, string ensembles, rock and jazz ensembles, 2 marching percussion lines, percussion ensembles, chamber music, 3 color guards, 2 dance teams, 4 choirs, and a comprehensive drama department. In 2014, DBHS was awarded the National Grammy Signature School award as the top school in the nation for its commitment to arts education.

With over 700 students enrolled in instrumental music, the music program at DBHS is considered one of the most successful and comprehensive programs on the west coast. All performing ensembles receive local and regional recognition, as well as the top ensembles receiving national honors. Groups have been invited to prestigious performances, including the Rose Parade, and national competitions, all with tremendous success. Individual success is also emphasized, with DBHS breaking records for the last 8 years of students selected to the Southern California Honor Band & Orchestra. Nearly 100 students participate in local youth bands and orchestras, including the prestigious National Youth Orchestra, the American Youth Orchestra, Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra and Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra. Students who graduate from DBHS show tremendous success at major universities and conservatories such as Julliard, Colburn, New England Conservatory, Columbia, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Michigan, USC and UCLA. 

Steven Acciani is Director of Instrumental Music at Diamond Bar High School. After graduating from California State University, Fullerton with a BA and Teaching Credential in Music Education, he began his career in the Walnut Valley School District, opening South Pointe Middle School in 1989 with 17 band students. Six years later, he had grown his program to over 600 students, with a reputation for being one of the finest middle school programs in the Western United States. After 18 wonderful years, he moved to Diamond Bar High School and in the last 16 years has helped transform the program into a well-rounded, multi-faceted music program of over 700 students and 20 different performing groups.  Students who have come through either South Pointe Middle School or Diamond Bar High School have shown tremendous success in the arts, with many receiving music scholarships to nationally known Conservatories and Universities, as well as garnering national and international attention through their solo and group performances . The Diamond Bar High School music program has been twice honored by the Grammy Foundation as a Signature School for music education, and was named the National Grammy Signature School for 2014. In 1999 and 2013, Mr. Acciani was named Teacher of the Year for his school and also for the Walnut Valley School District. In 2000 he was chosen as one of two Teachers of the Year for Los Angeles County, and was a finalist for California State Teacher of the Year. He was honored by NBC with a “Golden Apple” for his work with students, and was invited to participate in “Unsung Heroes Week” for a national broadcast. Mr. Acciani has been actively involved in the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association, the California Band Director’s Association, the California Orchestra Director’s Association, and the American String Teachers Association, and is an active clinician in the Southern California area. In 2001 he was awarded a Masters Degree in Education Administration from Azusa Pacific University. In his spare time he has spent 18 years as a football, baseball, and basketball coach at Diamond Bar High School. 

Marie Santos is the director of Instrumental Music at Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, CA. Marie completed her Masters of Music degree with an emphasis in instrumental conducting under Dr. Mitch Fennell, at California State University of Fullerton in 2010. Marie also completed two undergraduate degrees (Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts) in music education and percussion performance in May of 2008 at CSUF. For nine years, she studied percussion under Professor Todd Miller, the principal timpanist of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Her other teachers include Brian Mason, Naoko Takada, and Jim Lorbeer. As a performer, she has performed with the International Youth Wind Symphony at the World Association for Symphonic Band Ensembles Conference in Ohio, Cypress College Wind Ensemble, Orange Coast College Orchestra, Claremont Winds, Orange County Symphony, Orange County Wind Symphony, Pacific Brass, John Alexander’s Singers, Rio Hondo Symphony, and Pacific Chorale.