Christopher Fens, Lead Conductor

 

Christopher Fens began his teaching career in 2002 in Chesterfield County, Virginia where he was hired as the band director for Bailey Bridge Middle School.  While director at BBMS, Christopher also served as the Assistant Director for the Manchester High School Lancer Bands which led to his appointment as Director of Bands at Manchester High School in 2015.  Under his leadership, the bands at BBMS and MHS have received numerous superior ratings at state assessments and have won many awards at assessment competition events, including being recognized multiple times as a Virginia Honor Band and Blue-Ribbon School of Excellence in Performing Arts. 

 

Prior to his teaching career, Christopher served in the United States Marine Corps.  After his service, he continued his education at Virginia Commonwealth University where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in December 2000 (cum laude) and Master’s Degree (magna cum laude) in May 2002.  Both degrees are in Music Education with a concentration in conducting.  As a graduate student, Christopher served as the teaching assistant to Dr. Terry Austin and conducted the University Band and the Symphonic Wind Ensemble.  For those years, he also served as coordinator of the VCU Pep Band and received the VCU Outstanding Graduate Student Award upon his graduation. 

 

Christopher held the position of conductor for the Chesterfield Community Band from January 2000 to December 2004.  In January 2002, he was selected as the conductor of the Fredericksburg Concert Band and still holds that position today.   In 2008, he was selected to be the Band Director for the American Legion Boys State held at Radford University and was nominated and inducted into the Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity in 2009.  Christopher is currently a member of the Virginia Music Educators Association, NAFME: The National Association for Music Education, the Phi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and the American Legion.  He is an active adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor in all levels and has served throughout the state and along the east coast in these roles. 

 

Christopher currently resides in Chesterfield County with his wife, Amy, and is the proud father of 6 wonderful children. 

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Corey Koch, Associate Conductor

Corey is the director of bands at Massaponax High School where he has taught since the school opened in 1998. Prior to his appointment to Massaponax, he served as the director of bands at Courtland High School. This is his 30th year teaching in Spotsylvania County.

 

Corey holds a Bachelor of Music Education from James Madison University where he studied with Dr. John Cryder and Dr. Pat Rooney. He also holds a Master of Music in Music Education from Virginia Commonwealth University where he studied with Dr. Terry Austin and Dr. David Greenagle.

 

Corey performs regularly with the Fredericksburg Concert Band and the Presbyterian Brass. He was the Massaponax High School Teacher of the Year in 2011 and in 2017 was the first recipient of the Ken Lipscomb Outstanding Bandmaster Award presented by the Alpha Chi chapter of Phi Beta Mu. He was the 2018 recipient of the Alice Hammel Inclusion in Music Education Award presented by James Madison University. Corey was inducted to the Fredericksburg Concert Band Hall of Fame in 2019.

 

Corey is member of NAfME, VMEA, VBODA, Phi Beta Mu and has been active host and adjudicator for many VBODA events. He presented at the 2020 VMEA In-Service Conference on establishing and maintaining a percussion class for students with special needs.

 

Corey is a proud alum of the JMU Marching Royal Dukes, Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps and the Eta Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi. He resides in Spotsylvania County with his wife, Jeanne, sons, Carter and Riley, and dog Mason.