Keith Brion

Keith Brion is an American classical conductor and band leader.

Biography and career

Keith Brion studied music education at West Chester State University and piccolo with John Krell, then taught in New Jersey schools while studying for a master's degree at Rutgers University. He played piccolo with the New Jersey Symphony, and founded the North Jersey Wind Symphony, of which he was music director. He was later a band educator and music supervisor in the New Jersey public schools, and Director of Bands of Yale University, where he led the Yale Band in performances at venues such as the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall.

In 1979, Brion founded the New Sousa Band, of which he is the music director and conductor. This band is dedicated to playing the music of John Philip Sousa and recreating the performance style of Sousa's original band; Brion also appears in the persona of Sousa, dressed as Sousa did. Brion has performed with a number of orchestras and bands, including the Stockholm Symphonic Wind Orchestra, New York City's Goldman Band, The California Wind Orchestra, and the Allentown Band. He has also performed with military bands, such as the United States Marine Band, United States Army Field Band, United States Army Band, United States Coast Guard Band and the U.S. Army Band of Europe in Heidelberg, Germany. Brion has also presented "Sousa revival concerts" with leading American orchestras, such as the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

El Capitan (disambiguation)

El Capitan is the name of a rock formation in Yosemite National Park, California.

El Capitan (accented Capitán, "The Captain" in Spanish) may also refer to:

Places

Schools

El Capitan

El Capitan (Spanish for The Captain, The Chief) is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about 3,000 feet (900 m) from base to summit along its tallest face and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers and BASE jumpers.

The formation was named "El Capitan" by the Mariposa Battalion when it explored the valley in 1851. El Capitan ("the captain", "the chief") was taken to be a loose Spanish translation of the local Native American name for the cliff, variously transcribed as "To-to-kon oo-lah" or "To-tock-ah-noo-lah". It is unclear if the Native American name referred to a specific tribal chief or simply meant "the chief" or "rock chief". In modern times, the formation's name is often contracted to "El Cap", especially among rock climbers and BASE jumpers.

The top of El Capitan can be reached by hiking out of Yosemite Valley on the trail next to Yosemite Falls, then proceeding west. For climbers, the challenge is to climb up the sheer granite face; there are many named climbing routes, all of them arduous. Some of these include the iron hawk route, the sea of dreams route, etc.

El Capitan (Arizona school)

El Capitan is a public school located in Colorado City, Arizona, serving students in the towns of Colorado City, Centennial Park and Cane Beds in rural Mohave County, and in Hildale, Utah. It is the only school in the Colorado City Unified School District.

History

The Colorado City Unified School District had about 1,200 pupils in 2000, when Warren Jeffs ordered Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members to pull children out of public schools. After that, the number dwindled to fewer than 250. Most of the remaining students came from the Centennial Park group. He said that it was because the curriculum was offensive to God. Sam Brower, the author of Prophet's Prey, said that the real reason was to extract money from non-believers.

The district had over 100 employees and 18 administrators at the time Jeffs ordered followers out of the school. Almost all of the employees retained their jobs with no pay cuts. Jeffs did not order the fundamentalist church members who made up the majority of the school district's administrators to quit their positions. These administrators bought cars and an aircraft before the district went into bankruptcy. The Arizona state government attempted to take over the district in 2005 due to mismanagement. The state government appointed an observer as all FLDS members of the Colorado City Board of Education left their posts. The Arizona Department of Education later concluded that the district improved after state intervention.