Band Guest Conductor
George K. Halsell

Professor Emeritus College of Southern Idaho

Professor Emeritus George K. Halsell served as a member of the music faculty at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls for 27 years, teaching several different classroom music courses and studio lessons in brass instruments and composition, and directing the CSI Symphonic Band. Prior to CSI, he held full-time positions at West Virginia University and Adams State College (now Adams State University; Alamosa, Colorado) and otherwise living the life of a freelance musician and “road scholar”, teaching part-time at various colleges and preparatory departments in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pueblo (Colorado) and Colorado Springs. Among these was an appointment as director of the concert band at the University of Southern Colorado (now Colorado State University – Pueblo).

Dr. Halsell received his bachelor’s degree from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University and his master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts from The University of Texas at Austin, all in trombone performance. He also attended graduate school at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and studied trombone at the Aspen Music School and choral conducting at the Aspen Choral Institute. As a performer, Dr. Halsell was a trombonist with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Baltimore Opera Orchestra and the Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra. He was also a member of the Peabody Ragtime Ensemble and the Baltimore Brassworks Brass Quintet and performed in bands for the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus, and for numerous pop singers, including Liberace, Diana Ross, the Temptations, and Perry Como.

He has appeared as guest conductor for the Magic Valley Symphony (Twin Falls, Idaho), the Twin Falls Municipal Band and the Whatcom Wind Ensemble (Bellingham, Washington). Dr. Halsell has also distinguished himself as a composer. He has written and arranged works for the Magic Valley Symphony (Twin Falls, Idaho), the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra (College Station, Texas), the CSI Symphonic Band and Chamber Choir, the Twin Falls Municipal Band and the Choir of First Presbyterian Church, Twin Falls. Among his compositions is his Symphony in Five Episodes, the premiere of which was given by the Magic Valley Symphony under Dr. Halsell’s direction. He was later awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in recognition of this achievement.

In 2023, Dr. Halsell and his wife Melanie relocated to the Bellingham, Washington area, where he continues to be active as a conductor and adjudicator.