Curt Ebersole

Curt Ebersole has served as the Conductor and Music Director (John P. Paynter Memorial Chair) of the Westchester Symphonic Winds since 2008, fostering its exponential growth and success over the past sixteen years. He led the Westchester Symphonic Winds in their Carnegie Hall debut in 2023, their Lincoln Center debut in 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall, and in their convention and exchange performances in Chicago, Poughkeepsie, Stamford, and Syracuse, as well as annual sold-out summer festival performances at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (Katonah, NY) since 2014. He retired from Northern Valley Regional High School (Old Tappan, NJ) in 2013 after serving as Director of Instrumental Music for 31 years, where his ensembles were honored with consistent critical accolades and his instrumental Prism Concerts became a local rite of spring. He now serves on the faculty at The Masters School, in Dobbs Ferry, New York, where he teaches String Ensemble, Chamber Music, and Public Speaking. He earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree and a Master of Music in Conducting degree from Northwestern University, where he studied conducting with John P. Paynter and clarinet with Larry Combs, and a Master of Fine Arts in Clarinet Performance from SUNY-Purchase, where he studied with Ben Armato.

Ebersole has served as a guest conductor and clinician for numerous county, regional, all-state, university, and adult community ensembles around the world, including multiple performances at Carnegie Hall, as well as Avery Fisher Hall, Symphony Space, University of Georgia, Syracuse University, Hartwick College, Georgia State University, with the US Army Field Band, in addition to performances in Las Vegas, South Korea, and Sydney, Australia. He is the founding coordinator of the Music Educators of Bergen County Wind Conducting Symposium. He has served as a clinician at the Midwest Clinic, Temple University Wind Conducting and Teaching Workshops, Florida Music Educators Association Convention, New York State Band Directors Association, and presented his TED Talk, “Framing Failure,” at TEDxOneonta in 2017. He is a practitioner of Positive Psychology and the Harkness Method. His performance credits encompass solo and ensemble performances as both a clarinetist and basset hornist, and include an appearance with the West Point Band on their recording of the Roy Harris Symphony (2022).

Ebersole has earned multiple awards, including the New Jersey Music Educators Association Master Music Teacher Award (2003), New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts (2003), New Jersey Governor’s Teacher Recognition Award (2009), the Yale University Distinguished Music Educator Award (2011), and the Jane Rechtman Faculty Chair at The Masters School (2019-2023). Ebersole led the Westchester Symphonic Winds to earn a triple play in The American Prize competition, including first place for community wind ensemble, second place as conductor, and third place for American music performance in 2019. He serves as a volunteer tour guide and docent at the Percy Grainger Home & Studio in White Plains, New York. His professional memberships include NAfME, CBDNA, and Pi Kappa Lambda. 

Ebersole is a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and a current resident of White Plains, New York. In addition to his busy musical life, he enjoys riding America’s fastest and tallest roller coasters.