About the Conductor

Dr. Marshall Forrester, Music Director and Conductor of the Knoxville Wind Symphony, is a leader among a new generation of wind conductors. His work has garnered acclaim in a variety of settings, including praise for teaching and conducting, and for the interpretation of new wind music.

Dr. Forrester is the Director of Bands at Carson-Newman College, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, as well as teaching conducting, band and wind ensemble literature, and courses in music education. He is the recipient of the Carson-Newman College Teaching Excellence and Leadership Award, reserved for one junior faculty member each year, as well as the Carson-Newman College Creativity Award. Dr. Forrester is the founding director of the C-N Summer Music Camp and the founder and Principal Conductor of the East Tennessee Youth Wind Ensemble, a band composed of some of the most talented high school musicians in the region. He is a frequent guest conductor and clinician of high school and honor bands, and has been twice elected as College Representative on the Board of the East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association.

He received the Master of Music degree, with a concentration in conducting, from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, where he studied wind ensemble history and literature with Donald Hunsberger, director emeritus of the renowned Eastman Wind Ensemble. While at Eastman, Dr. Forrester also studied conducting with Donald Neuen, currently Professor of Choral Conducting and Choral Studies Director at UCLA, and Director of Choral Activities at the Crystal Cathedral, Garden Grove, California. Under the guidance of Eastman conducting Professor David Effron, Dr. Forrester's performance of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings with the Eastman Philharmonia Orchestra won critical acclaim from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Since that time, Dr. Forrester's interpretation of new wind music has been affirmed by contemporary composers, including East Tennessee's own David Holsinger and W. Mark Harrell.

Dr. Forrester holds the PhD. degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. While in residence at UNCG, he served as conductor of the University Concert Band, and studied conducting with John R. Locke, president of the American Bandmaster's Association. Originally from Shelby, North Carolina, Dr. Forrester previously directed bands with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. While in Charlotte, he also performed as principal trumpet with the Charlotte Repertory Orchestra. He is a graduate of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, and received the Bachelor of Music in Music Education from UNCG, graduating summa cum laude.

Dr. Forrester lives in Morristown with his wife Lisa, sons Paul and Andrew, and daughter Katie. His interests include spending time with family, service at church, building houses, cooking and grilling, and classic gaming.