.: Directors :.
Dr. Kenneth Ozzello, Director of the Million Dollar Band
Randall Coleman, Associate Director of The Million Dollar Band
Neal Flum, Associate Director of Athletic Bands
Steve Simpson, Assistant Director
Dr. Kenneth Ozzello is Director of Bands and Professor of Music at The University of Alabama. Dr. Ozzello joined the University faculty in 1989. He holds two degrees from West Virginia University, the Bachelor of Music in Music Education and the Masters of Music in Conducting; and a Doctorate of Education from The University of Alabama.
Dr. Ozzello is the director of The University of Alabama "Million Dollar Band." The Million Dollar Band is one of the most widely recognized organizations of The University of Alabama and an important part of Crimson Football. In 2003 The University of Alabama "Million Dollar Band" received the prestigious "Sudler Trophy." The Sudler Trophy is the only national award honoring excellence in the college marching band activity.
Dr. Ozzello is also the conductor of The Alabama Wind Ensemble, widely acclaimed as one of the premier college concert ensembles in the nation. The Alabama Wind Ensemble has commissioned and premiered dozens of new works for band and has performed at numerous national venues. In addition to conducting the wind ensemble, Dr. Ozzello teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting classes and music education methods classes. He maintains a busy national schedule of clinics and guest conducting engagements.
Over the past two decades, Dr. Ozzello has designed shows for the Million Dollar Band that have been performed at the Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and 1992 National Championship Sugar Bowl, and 17 Iron Bowls. His "Superman" design can be seen in Daniel Moore's "Century of Champions" painting commemorating one hundred years of Crimson Tide Football. Dr. Ozzello is in much demand for his drill designs and has written for over 100 high school and college marching bands. Before arriving in Tuscaloosa, he served on the staff of the West Virginia University band program and designed shows for the "Pride of West Virginia" Marching Band. He also spent five years as the Director of Bands at Jeannette High School in the Pittsburgh area.
Randall Coleman is currently the Associate Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Alabama where he serves as the conductor of the Alabama Symphonic Band, the Associate Conductor of the Alabama Wind Ensemble and theAssociate Director of the “Million Dollar Band.” He also teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting and wind band literature classes. Mr. Coleman joins the faculty at the University of Alabama after a successful 25 year career as a high school band director and supervisor in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama, and his Masters of Music Education degree from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mr. Coleman has been an active member of the Georgia Music Educators' Association, where he has held the office of President, First Vice-President and State Band Division Chair. Mr. Coleman has also served as Georgia State Chair for the National Band Association. He was awarded the Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association on eight occasions and was the 1992 recipient of the American School Band Directors Association's Stanbury Award for the state of Georgia and the southeastern United States. Mr. Coleman was inducted into the John Philip Sousa Foundations' "Legion of Honor" in 2004 and is also listed in "Who's Who Among America's Teachers." Bands under Mr. Coleman's direction have consistently received superior ratings on the concert stage as well as the marching field. His concert ensembles have performed on three occasions in Carnegie Hall in New York, New York. During his tenure at Milton High School in Milton, Georgia, the Milton Wind Ensemble was invited to perform at the National Convention of the Music Educators’ National Conference, the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival, and the Georgia Music Educators' Association State Conference. Marching bands under his direction have won numerous “Grand Championship” awards and also participated in the prestigious New Year's Day Parade in London, England, in 1996 and 2001, and the 2004 Fiesta Bowl Parade in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Coleman remains in demand as a marching and concert band clinician and adjudicator across the country and in Europe.
Neal H. Flum came to the University of Alabama from Athens High School and Athens Middle School in Athens, Alabama, where he served as percussion instructor from 1984-2000. During that time he was also an instructor at Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama.
Mr. Flum is currently the Associate Director of Athletic Bands. He is director of Athletic Pep Bands and is also the percussion instructor and arranger for the marching band. He is a past secretary for the Alabama Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society and served as its President from 1994 until 1996. He was re-elected president in 2004. He is a clinician/endorser for the Pearl Corporation, Innovative Percussion, Evans Drumheads, The Avedis Zildjian Co., and Grover Pro Percussion. He is also a member of the staff of Thom Hannum's Mobile Percussion Seminar. Mr. Flum is the creator and Director of the Athens Percussion Festival (1989-2000) and is the co-founder of the Alabama Chapter of PAS Day of Percussion. Neal also endorses the Modquad, a tenor practice pad set that can be found at: MODQUAD In the summer of 2006, he was appointed to the Percussive Arts Society Marching Percussion Committee. Neal was recently added to the Virtual Drumline Who's Who of Tapspace Publications.
Mr. Flum has adjudicated and consulted in the southeast and has also adjudicated for the Northwest Marching Band Circuit. He currently consults for the Brookwood High School indoor marching percussion ensemble (Brookwood, Alabama). He has been published by Warner Brothers' marching band division, Percussive Notes, and the Pearl Corporation Percussion Resource Library: www.pearldrum.com He is a member of the Music Educators National Conference and the Percussive Arts Society. In 1992 he was on the percussion staff of the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps. He played snare drum in the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps in 1982. In 1983 he played multi-tenors with the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps and earned, along with the rest of the section, the "High Drums" trophy. Mr. Flum is a graduate of the University of Alabama (BA 1985 and MA 1988), was a member of the Million Dollar Band from 1980 until 1984, and served as percussion co-instructor his final year.
Steve Simpson has worked with the Million Dollar Band in various capacities for 20 years. Currently his duties with the marching band include overseeing the Color Guard program and coordinating various aspects of Band logistics, including travel to out-of-state appearances and coordination with the UA Athletic Department. Mr. Simpson has planned and coordinated the Band's participation in the SEC Championship Game, the Sugar Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Gator Bowl, the Citrus Bowl, the Outback Bowl, the Music City Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, and the Independence Bowl. In 2006, Mr. Simpson founded the University of Alabama Alta Marea (Italian for High Tide) Winter Guard. In their inaugural season of competition, they were the Southeastern Color Guard Circuit Championships Independent A Class Silver Medal winner and a Winter Guard International World Championships Independent A Class finalist.
Mr. Simpson is a graduate of The University of Alabama where he was a member of the Million Dollar Band and the University Symphonic Band. Prior to joining the Million Dollar Band staff, Mr. Simpson was a band director at Tarrant Middle School and W. A. Berry High School, both in Birmingham, Alabama.
In addition to his duties with the Million Dollar Band, Mr. Simpson is coordinator and contest director for the Festival of Champions band competition. He is also a consultant and festival coordinator for the National Band and Orchestra Festival held at Carnegie Hall in New York.
