Name Justin Lewis | ||
Justin (Wayne) Lewis (born in 1982) is an American conductor, cellist and educator who became a conductor in the United States Air Force Band program in 2012. He is currently the flight commander of the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia and the United States Air Force Heartland of America Band at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. Lewis also serves as conductor-in-residence of the Virginia Choral Society, and as a faculty member at the Pennsylvania Suzuki Institute.
Biography
A native of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, Lewis graduated from Cedar Cliff High School and served as a Spanish-speaking missionary in the Arizona Tucson Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (2001-2003). He attended Temple University's Boyer College of Music in Philadelphia where he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree (2006) in cello performance with a minor in journalism, public relations and advertising. While at Temple, he was elected to the "Who's Who Among Students at American Universities and Colleges" while studying with Orlando Cole, Jeffrey Solow and Philadelphia Orchestra cellist Kathy Picht-Read. Lewis earned a master of music degree in cello performance (2008), a Pennsylvania K-12 music teaching certificate (choral, band, orchestra, general music) (2009) and master of music degree in orchestral conducting (2010) from the Pennsylvania State University. While at Penn State, Lewis conducted the Penn State Sinfonietta, the largest music ensemble in the school of music, the Penn State Cello Choir and the Penn State Philharmonic. He also taught courses in cello pedagogy, chamber music and repertoire, and performed in the School of Music's official string quartet and managed the music library. Lewis currently studies conducting and cello performance as a doctor of music arts degree candidate at the Catholic University of America's Benjamin T. Rome School of Music. He is expected to graduate in Spring of 2015.
A distinguished graduate of the Air Force Officer Training School, Lewis was awarded the Daniel Webster Award, and the General Daniel "Chappie" James Award for Excellence. He subsequently attended Defense Information School where he became certified as a Department of Defense spokesperson. In 2013, he led the first Air Force Band/Public Affairs collaborative effort to connect American school children with youth in Kyrgyzstan using music. The effort strengthened U.S. State Department regional objectives by building bonds between the two cultures, and won the first Air Force Public Affairs Director's Communication Excellence Award for Innovation ever given to a band.
Lewis formerly served as executive director of the Pennsylvania Suzuki Institute in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and choral director and music department chair at Herbert J. Saunders Middle School in Manassas, Virginia where he also taught orchestra and theory courses, and developed a music therapy curriculum for students with special needs. He has taught music at the Haverford School for Boys in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and the Conservatory of Musical Arts in Haddonfield, NJ. Lewis served at music director of the Washington Temple Orchestra and conducted the Mormon Choir and Orchestra of Washington, DC in a series of acclaimed holiday concerts at the Music Center at Strathmore featuring Grammy-nominated violinist Jenny Oaks Baker. In 2012, Lewis won an online conducting contest to guest conduct the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. He has appeared with the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra, the Central Pennsylvania Symphony, the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Society of Philadelphia, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Band, Symphony in C, the Wind Ensemble of the College of William and Mary, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute, La Orquesta Sinfonica de las Americas and the United States Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants.
Lewis frequently appears with the professional men's vocal ensemble, Brethren. He regularly guest conducts high school honors music festivals and has appeared at four American Choral Directors Association conferences. Lewis is a recording artist with Shadow Mountain Records, and has also recorded on the Centaur label. He released, 'Walk Beside Me,' a recording of LDS primary children songs with the Capitol String Quartet for Deseret Book in late 2014. It peaked at #2 on Deseret Book's music charts.
Lewis is married to American violist Jennifer Jackson Lewis, and they have three children.