Fayetteville High School Band Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville Band Staff
Brett Lawson is the Director of Bands at Fayetteville High School. He has been a band director with the Fayetteville School District since 2001. At Fayetteville High School, he conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches AP Music Theory. in 2005, Mr. Lawson was a finalist for the ASBDA Young Band Director of the Year award. Mr. Lawson received both his Bachelor of Music (1999) and Master of Music (2001) degrees from the University of Arkansas. As a Graduate Assistant with the University of Arkansas Bands, he assisted with the Razorback Marching Band, conducted the Lady Hogwild Basketball Pep Band, and co-conducted the U of A Concert Band. His affiliations include Phi Beta Mu, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Kappa Delta Pi, Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association, and Arkansas Bandmasters Association. During his tenure with the Fayetteville Public Schools, the Fayetteville High School Band has received numerous superior ratings and sweepstakes awards from the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association. The FHS Band has also performed at several special events including the 2001 Hollywood Christmas Parade, the 2006 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, and made their second appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2008. The FHS Wind Ensemble also performed a special concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2011.
Michael Post joined Fayetteville Public Schools in 2015. Post leads Symphonic I (concert band two) and assists with the Bulldog Marching Band and the Concert Band at Fayetteville High School. In addition, he leads Beginning Brass classes and assists with the 8th grade Symphonic Band at Woodland Junior High. Since joining the team at Fayetteville, the Marching Band has achieved notable firsts including the program’s first Bands of America Regional Finals appearance. In addition to his instruction duties, Post regularly serves as “the voice” of the Bulldog Marching Band. He previously instructed Symphonic II, which earned consistent Superior ratings on stage, and conducted the Fayetteville High School Musical in 2018. Post earned a Bachelors of Music degree in Music Education from the University of Arkansas. He was selected for the “Outstanding Bandsman Award” by his peers and was awarded the “Eldon A. Janzen Director’s Award for Meritorious Service.” He went on to earn a Masters of Music degree in Tuba Performance at U of A and served as a University Bands Graduate Teaching Assistant. Post has performed with notable ensembles including the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, the SoNA Brass Quintet, and others. Post served as a Brass Instructor with the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps from 2015 to 2019. In 2008 he performed with the Blue Stars and was the gold medalist in the Drum Corps International Individual and Ensemble Solo Tuba competition. Post enjoys contributing to the Music Education community and has mentored and co-mentored several Music Education and drum corps instructor interns. When not teaching or performing, Post enjoys spending time with his family and friends and reading.
Originally from Norman, Oklahoma, Jason feels extremely fortunate to be a staff member of Fayetteville Public Schools and Fayetteville High School Bands. He received his Bachelor of Music Education Degree from the University of Oklahoma and is about to begin his Masters in Jazz Studies Degree from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He has taught middle school and high school band in several districts across Oklahoma and is excited to be continuing his career in Northwest Arkansas. While at OU, Jason had the privilege of being the Drum Major for "The Pride of Oklahoma"" Marching Band for 2 seasons, performing in front of tens of thousands of people each weekend. Jason is also a freelance musician in the Northeast Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas area and enjoys teaching private lessons. He enjoys attending concerts, playing sports, working out, and playing with his dog Ryla.
Trey Antonetti is a band director and guard program coordinator at Fayetteville High School. In his time at Fayetteville the guard program has grown in size and now fosters up to four winter guards each Spring. The FHS Varsity “Eminence Winter Guard” has been a perennial WGI regional finalist since 2016. At FHS, Mr. A assists with Marching Band, directs the FHS Concert Band, the FHS Color Guard and Winter Guards, teaches Music Appreciation, Study Hall, and an adaptive dance class for students with special needs. In addition to his responsibilities at FHS, Mr. Antonetti is in his 11th season serving as coordinator for the University of Arkansas Razorback Marching Band Color Guard, and has served as Director of Color Guard Education for the Mid-Continent Color Guard Association since 2015. Mr. A is a 2009 graduate of the University of Central Arkansas where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. In 2013, Trey was named the Phi Beta Mu Arkansas Young Band Director of the Year.
Matt Brusca is the Percussion Specialist for Fayetteville Public Schools, a position he has held since 2016. He earned a Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance from Illinois State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Missouri Southern State University. Mr. Brusca’s responsibilities at FPS include instructing the FHS Drum Line, Percussion Ensemble, Steel Pan Bands, Barkin’ Bulldog Band, and 7th & 8th grade percussion at Ramay and Woodland Junior High. During the past four years, Fayetteville percussionists have been selected for All-State Honor Bands 20 times, and for All-Region Honor Bands 52 times. In 2018, the Fayetteville Percussion Ensemble was invited to perform at the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy. Mr. Brusca has been on staff with Resistance Indoor Percussion, Gateway Indoor, and the Colt Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps, in addition to instructing and arranging for high school drum lines in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma. His performing experiences include a variety of symphonies and professional sports drum lines throughout the Midwest and abroad. He was also a WGI Independent World Class Finalist with Gateway Indoor in 2008 and 2009. Mr. Brusca is a performing artist/clinician for Mapex drums, Majestic percussion, Sabian cymbals, and Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, as well as a signature artist for Etymotic Research, Inc.
Caleb Pond joined Fayetteville Public Schools in 2009. Mr. Pond leads the beginning flute, woodwind, and Symphonic Band at Woodland Junior High. He also assists with the Marching Bulldog Band at Fayetteville High School and beginning high and low brass classes at Woodland Junior High. Previously, Mr. Pond served as Assistant Band Director at Northwest High School and Gene Pike Middle School in the DFW area. Mr. Pond earned both of his degrees from the University of Arkansas. He received his Bachelor’s degree of Music Education from the University of Arkansas in 2004, and he earned his Masters degree in Instrumental Conducting in 2009 while serving as a University Bands Graduate Teaching Assistant. Mr. Pond has recently been seeking National Board certification in Music (EAYA) in order to further his dedication to teaching and his commitment to the talented students of the Fayetteville band program.
Michael Cotten is originally from Harrodsburg, Kentucky and holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Kentucky. While at UK Mr. Cotten received a grant to research at the Julliard School of Music and was a recipient of the 2015 Ralph McCracken Scholarship in Music Theory and winner of the 2016 KMEA Collegiate Composition Contest. As a band director, Michael has previously taught at La Salle High School in Cincinnati, RA Jones Middle School in Kentucky, and Hector Public School District in Arkansas. He was fortunate enough for his students to receive multiple accolades such as most All-Region placements in school history, a marching band state bronze medal, and superior rating at concert assessment. Currently he serves as the band director at Ramay Jr. High School. Active as a composer and arranger, his compositions have been performed on 3 continents in addition to multiple state and national conferences such as the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and International Trumpet Guild Conference. In the marching band circuit, his arrangements have garnered multiple state championships including a BOA Class A Reserve-Grand Champion placement. Recently, Michael has explored the commercial genre writing music for online content creators and writing instrumental parts for a live performance by Ouiwey Collins, son of bassist Bootsy Collins.