Our Staff
The Harvard Band is entirely student-run, from the writing of halftime shows to the arrangements of music to administrative work and financial planning. The five members of the Band’s Student Leadership (aka “Senior Staff”) make sure the Band is in the right place at the right time—all the time. All inquiries should be addressed to the Band’s Leadership Team.
Senior Staff
Manager
Condoleezza Dwuye ’28
Condoleezza (“Condi”) Dwuye is a sophomore from Taunton, Massachusetts, concentrating in Government with a secondary in Social Anthropology and a citation in Spanish. She plays the clarinet (Go Flutinets!!!!) and has recently been trying to learn bass drum.
Outside of band, she is involved in the Harvard International Relations Council, the Harvard African Students’ Association, and Harvard Global Research Consulting. In her free time, she enjoys singing karaoke, spending time with family and friends, and waiting for an hour for Berryline’s frozen yogurt.
Student Conductor
Jack Wilder ’28
Jack is a sophomore from Floyd, VA concentrating in Mathematics with a secondary in Neuroscience. He plays the mellophone in the band and is a loyal member of the Low Brass. Outside of the band, you can find him in the math lounge, watching the same handful of movies over and over again, or enjoying a nice cup of coffee (black).
Drum Major
Colleen Meosky ‘28
Colleen is a sophomore from Buffalo, NY, double concentrating in History and Psychology with a secondary in Celtic Languages & Literatures. In the band, she is a proud member of the saxophone section, in which she plays tenor. (Fun fact: she is the third member of her family to be in the Band’s sax section!) Aside from Band, Colleen is part of the Harvard Women Club Ice Hockey team, Harvard Jazz Combo Initiative, several Harvard Alumni Association committees, Pets As Therapy, Harvard Undergraduate Chapter of Girl Up, and Fête Planning Committee. She is also a Peer-Advising Fellow and the Eliot House Town Crier. At the end of a long day, there is nothing she loves more than cheering on Buffalo Bills and Sabres.
Junior Staff
Besides the 3 Senior Staff positions, there are over 20 other staff positions to make sure that the finer details of the Band’s operations don’t slip through any cracks. New members are eligible to run for a staff position after their first football season—in fact, most of the positions are held by first-years and sophomores—and it is a great way to serve as a leader in an organization very early in your Harvard career.
Manager’s Committee
- Assistant Manager – Ziad Ben-Gacem
- Digital Communications & Platforms Manager – Caitlyn Gonzalez
- Digital Content Creator – Lizbeth Luna-Lopez
- POC/Inclusivity Chair: Genevieve Hill
Drill Master’s Committee
- Assistant Drill Masters: Juan Solis and Evan Elling
- Photographer/Cinematographer – Lizbeth Luna-Lopez
- Merchandise Coordinator: Genevieve Hill
Student Conductor’s Committee
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- Flute/Clarinet Section Leader – Elliott Seutter
- Saxophone Section Leader – Jordan McCloughan
- Brass Section Leader: Marta Ramos Caimari
- Percussion Section Leader – Ziad Ben-Gacem
Music Manager – Hailey Akey and Justin Gao
Drum Major’s Committee
- Internal Affairs Manager – Elliott Seutter
Schneider’s Committee
- Weisse – Jupiter Macavoy, Evan Elling
- Schwartz: Justin Gao, Jupiter Macavoy, Jordan McCloughan
Sections
The Band fields all types of instruments—from tiny piccolos to huge sousaphones—with each instrument group making up a section. These sections work together musically in weekly sectionals and become close-knit families away from home.
If you don’t see an instrument you play, don’t worry—you can find a home in our illustrious prop crew.
Flutinets Section
Trumpet Section
Saxophone Section
Low Brass Section
Percussion Section
Prop Crew
The Band wouldn’t be able to function without our Prop Crew. Clad in white jumpsuits, Prop Crew takes care of a huge number of miscellaneous tasks such as playing Bertha, driving the prop crew van, and, most importantly, making props to wield during the Band’s field shows. Best of all, you don’t need to play an instrument to be in Prop Crew!
Administration
Our Director
Mark Olson, Director of Bands at Harvard, served as Interim Conductor of the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, guest conductor of the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, and currently is Director of the Middlesex Concert Band.
Olson received his BM degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and an MA degree in Music Education from the University of Minnesota. His conducting teachers have included Craig Kirchhoff and J. Robert Hanson. An active trumpet performer and soloist, he is currently the Principal Trumpet of the Metropolitan Wind Symphony and performs with the New Sousa Band. He is a former member of the Charles River Wind Ensemble, Mankato Symphony Orchestra, Austin Symphony Orchestra, and Winona Brass Band. He has studied trumpet with David Baldwin, Gary Bordner and J. Robert Hanson.
Coordinator
Bassoonist Jensen Ling is an active orchestral and chamber musician in the New England area. Originally from Boca Raton, Florida, he is a keen interpreter of a broad expanse of repertoire, from the Bach canon and standard repertory to Gubaidulina and Sciarrino. In addition to holding the position of principal bassoon with the Marsh Chapel Collegium, Jensen frequently appears in and around Boston with the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music, Cantata Singers, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, Odyssey Opera, Back Bay Chorale, New Bedford Symphony, Albany Symphony, Symphony New Hampshire, Boston Philharmonic, and Sound Icon. He has also appeared at the Rockport Chamber Festival and was named a Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow for the 2016-2017 Season at Emmanuel Music. He has played under the baton of Ludovic Morlot, Joseph Silverstein, Robert Spano, Gunther Schuller, Maxim Shostakovich, and John Harbison, among others.
Jensen studied at The New England Conservatory of Music and Boston University with Boston Symphony bassoonists Gregg Henegar and Richard Ranti, and with Palm Beach Opera bassoonist, Michael Ellert, prior to moving to Boston. Additional studies include chamber music with John Heiss. For the past several summers, Jensen has served as the Young Artists Orchestra Program Manager and as a member of the chamber music faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Currently, Jensen makes his home in the great neighborhood of Lower Allston, where he lives with his girlfriend Anna, a violist, and their cat, Pig.
Director Emeritus
When Brown bandies came to steal the drum, both future-manager Sam Coppersmith and newly-appointed director Thomas G. Everett unwittingly helped the thieves load Bertha onto their truck. Despite this inauspicious beginning, Sam went on to become a congressman, and Tom has become well-known for his outstanding contributions to the Harvard Band’s past and present.
Since his appointment to the Harvard faculty in 1971 until his retirement in 2013, Thomas G. Everett directed the Harvard Wind Ensemble, the Harvard Summer Pops Band, the Marching Band and the Harvard Jazz Bands, which he founded. His musicality has brought the Harvard wind groups to a high pitch of excellence, leading to international tours for both the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band.
Tom is a graduate of the Ithaca College Conservatory of Music. He has held teaching positions at Brown University, the New England Conservatory, the International Trombone Workshop, and the Indiana University Summer School, in addition to Harvard. As a noted bass trombonist, he has performed with the Bolshoi Ballet, the Boston Pops, the Portland (Maine) Symphony, and the jazz bands of Tommy Dorsey, Dizzy Gillespie, and the Ray Charles Orchestra. He is the founder and first president of the International Trombone Association and has premiered in recital over thirty new works for bass trombone.
In 1989 the Hungarian government presented him with their Artijus for outstanding performance of Hungarian music. He also conducted a live program of American Wind music on Hungarian radio.
Tom and Alice “Mom” Tondel have been the spirit of the Band for the past twenty years. In the tradition of Mal Holmes, Tom has always trusted students to run the band. His musical direction and invaluable historical perspective have supported the Band through its lively years to the current band. As director for 30 years, he has befriended and guided generations of crimson-clad bandies and continues to lead the Band in the spirit of excellence and fun. After 40 years of music, Tom retired as director of the Harvard Bands on February 15, 2013.