Randall Standridge - Composer: COLUMBIA

The Columbia Community Band commissioned Randall D. Standridge (b. 1976) to compose a concert band piece in honor of CCB's 40th anniversary and the 200th anniversary of the founding of both the State of Missouri and the City of Columbia. On September 12, 2021, the Columbia Community Band presented the premiere performance of COLUMBIA to open CCB's 40th Anniversary Concert in Columbia's historic Missouri Theatre.

Mr. Standridge received his Bachelor's of Music Education from Arkansas State University. During this time, he studied composition with Dr. Tom O'Connor, before returning to Arkansas State University to earn his Master's in Music Composition, studying with Dr. Tom O'Connor and Dr. Tim Crist. In 2001, he began his tenure as Director of Bands at Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, Arkansas. He left this post in 2013 to pursue a career as a full-time composer and marching arts designer.

Mr. Standridge is published by Grand Mesa Music, Alfred Music, FJH Music, Wingert-Jones Music, Band Works Publications, Twin Towers Music, and Northeastern Music Publications. Mr. Standrige's music is performed internationally. He has had numerous works selected to the J.W. Pepper's editor's choice. His compositions "Snake Charmer", "Gently Blows the Summer Wind", and "Angelic Celebrations" have been included in the "Teaching Music Through Performance in Band" series. He has had numerous works performed at the prestigious Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. His work "Art(isms)" was premiered by the Arkansas State University Wind Ensemble at the 2010 CBDNA conference in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and his work "Stonewall: 1969" was premiered at the National LGBA conference in 2019. Mr. Standridge is also a contributing composer for Alfred Music's Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development series.

In addition to his career as a composer, Mr. Standridge is the owner and editor for Randall Standridge Music, LLC and Grand Mesa Marching. He is in demand as a drill designer, music arranger, and colorguard designer for the marching arts, as well as a freelance artist/photographer and writer. He lives in Jonesboro, Arkansas with his family.

John E. Cheetham
Composer in Residence (Retired)

John E. Cheetham, Professor Emeritus of Music Theory and Composition at the University of Missouri-Columbia, served on that faculty from 1969-2000. His training included Bachelors and Masters Degrees from the University of New Mexico and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Washington.

He played euphonium with the Columbia Community Band and served as Composer in Residence during the periods of music direction by Keith House and John Patterson. The band has regularly performed a variety of Dr. Cheetham's compositions and arrangements for concert band, including Overture: Silver Jubilee, a piece he wrote specifically for CCB's 25th anniversary celebration in 2006.

During his tenure at Missouri, he wrote compositions for virtually all media and many of his works have been performed in the United States and abroad. Much of his music has been commercially published, and since 2001, published by his own company, BoonesLick Press. Recordings of his works are available on Crystal, Concord, Pro-Arte, Summit, Cedille and Antara labels.

Dr. Cheetham has received commissions from many prestigious universities, respected institutions and music organizations including the Kentucky Derby Museum, the Gaudete Brass, Texas Tech University, the Summit Brass, the Atlanta Symphony Brass, the Central Oregon Symphony Assoc. and the Air Force Band of the Midwest. He has also received numerous commissions for solo works.

Dr. Cheetham is a member of ASCAP and has received numerous ASCAP Plus awards since 1988. In addition, he won first prize in the Abraham Frost Competition in 1992 and was awarded a Centennial Distinguished Alumni Award in 1989.