KASTA Officer Election 2012

President Elect Candidates

Laura Carpenter has her BME from Wichita State University. She has been teaching in the Wichita Public School System for 20 years and is in her fourth year at Robinson Middle School, a group she took to the Midwest Clinic this past December. Laura was the SCKMEA Outstanding Middle Level Educator of 09-10 and received the ASTA Award of Excellence for her direction of the KASTA String Romp in 2009. She has been a guest conductor for several honor groups, and taken orchestras to many festivals where they received the top rating. Laura has a private studio in her home with many students in the Wichita Youth Symphony. In addition to her teaching career, Laura is a mother of four children ranging in age from elementary to college.

Eric L. Crawford is a native of Dayton, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Double Bass Performance from the Eastman School of Music and his Master’s Degree and Teaching Credentials from Wichita State University. He is the Director of Orchestras at Wichita High School East, and is the Orchestra Curriculum Coach for Wichita Public Schools.He is also the director of the Wichita Youth Chamber Players, the youngest of the three Wichita Youth Symphony Orchestras. As the director at East High School, he has led the group to many heights, including performances at KMEA and the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. He is also the Executive Director for “Bows at The Barn,” a summer orchestra camp for middle school and high school students at Prairie Pines Christmas Tree Farm in Maize, Kansas. He has received the Good Apple Award from Wichita Public Schools and the Burton Pell Award from the City of Wichita. As a double bass player, he has played with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra for fourteen seasons and the Music Theatre of Wichita Pit Orchestra for ten. He has also played with the Tulsa Philharmonic and the Second Touring Company of “Wicked.” An avid guest conductor and clinician, he has conducted numerous honors groups throughout Kansas. In his free time he enjoys private teaching and committee work. He serves proudly as the Vice President for the American Federation of Musicians Wichita Chapter, Local 297 and was chair of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra Committee for four years. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have been married for thirteen years. They have two children, Madeline and Miles.

Secretary Elect Candidates

Cody Toll is a 2010 graduate of the Music Education Program at Kansas State University and is in his second year of teaching Orchestra grades 5-12 in Fort Scott, KS. Cody has taught violin and viola lessons privately since 2003 and has been composing and arranging since 2004. He was the KSU ASTA Student Chapter president for the 2008-2009 school year and was an adjudicator at the Wildcat Solo and Ensemble Festival for middle school and grade school string players for several prior years. He conducted the Manhattan Silver Youth Orchestra from 2008-2010 and will be conducting at the String Fling Orchestra Workshop at KSU in January for the third time. Cody is in his second year of teaching professionally in public schools and has been nominated for the Kansas Horizon Award for teachers showing exceptional quality in their first year. On the national level, Cody has been the volunteer coordinator for the ASTA National Conference staff since 2006. He has performed with groups across the state including the KSU Orchestra, PSU Orchestra, Salina Symphony, Iola Symphony, and Southeast Kansas Symphony. He is also a founding member of the Manhattan Project String Quartet, which has appeared at numerous venues in Manhattan as well as a concert series at the Brown Grand Theater in Concordia and the Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina.

Parker J. Stanley has started his first year teaching with the Newton Public School District as High School Orchestra Director.  He has received a Master's in Cello Performance from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor's in Music Education from Bethel College, where he is Adjunct Cello Professor, in addition to maintaining a private studio of about 20 students.  Parker continues to perform and has played in symphony groups including Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra, Quad City Symphony and several other local symphonies.  Parker has performed in quartets including the Bambi Quartet, and Quartetto Giocoso, a group he organized to go on a Midwest tour.  He participates on the boards of two music organizations, the Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Board, as Assistant Personnel Manager, and the Charles Olson Scholarship Fund.