The Resurgence of the Music of Claude T. Smith
Pam Smith Kelly
PRESIDENT
Pam Smith Kelly is the daughter of Claude T. and Maureen F. Smith. Originally from Cozad, Nebraska, she graduated from Chillicothe High School (Missouri) and later earned her B.M.E. from Central Missouri State University and her M.M.E. from the University of Kansas.
Pam taught elementary music for 16 years and served as choral director for 19 years at Oxford Middle School in the Blue Valley School District, Overland Park, KS. She has also served as the Middle Level Chair and the Elementary Chair for the Northeast KMEA, as well as the State Chairman for KMEA Elementary and Middle Levels.
She has appeared as a guest director, clinician, and judge for bands, choirs, and orchestras across the country and abroad. Pam is President of Claude T. Smith Publications, Inc., which publishes the instrumental and choral works of her late father. She is also the founding conductor and artistic director of the EncoreKC! Foundation and has held similar positions in church music ministries, directing handbells, children’s choirs, wind ensembles, and orchestras for over 40 years in the Kansas City area.
Pam is a member of the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP), the American Choral Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education, the Kansas City Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, and the Association of Concert Bands. In 2024, she was inducted into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association.
She and her husband, Jim, have three children and proudly reside in Overland Park, Kansas.
Mark Doerffel
VICE PRESIDENT
Mark Doerffel is an educator, conductor, and trombonist based in North Carolina. He was named Musical Director and Conductor of The Village Band of Chapel Hill-Carrboro in August 2022. Previously, Doerffel served as a co-conductor for the Central Iowa Wind Ensemble, an adult semi-professional community band in the Des Moines Metro, as well as the Ankeny Community Band.
He served as Director of Instrumental Activities at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa for seven years, teaching Applied Brass, Music Theory, Instrumental Methods, Conducting, Music Appreciation, and directed the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble. Previously, he taught in the secondary schools of Florida and North Carolina for 14 years. In addition to his teaching and directing workload, he serves as the Project Manager and Publications Editor for Claude T. Smith Publications, Inc.
He has completed coursework (ABD) for his Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Florida, Master of Music Education from Appalachian State University, and Bachelor of Music Education from Louisiana State University.
Doerffel has presented at conferences in several states, including Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, and North Carolina on topics that range from classroom management, score preparation & study, new teacher preparation, and trombone & brass pedagogy.
He has served the Iowa Bandmasters Association (IBA) as Past President and College Affairs representative for the South Central district and was the State Chair for the College Affairs Committee. His professional affiliations include NAfME, National Band Association, College Band Directors National Association, College Music Society, North Carolina Bandmasters Association and the International Trombone Association.
Joseph Benjamin Earp
ARRANGER AND MEDIA SPECIALIST
Joseph Benjamin Earp is the Music/Music Industry Chair and Director of Bands at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi. He received his undergraduate degree in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a Master of Music in Music Education from Anderson University (Anderson, South Carolina), and a Doctor of Music Education from Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia). 2019 Dr. Earp was inducted into the Omega Nu Lambda National College Honor Society based on his academic achievement at Liberty University. In 2020, he was named a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient by the College of Arts and Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
His professional teaching career began in 2006 as Director of Bands at Seneca High School in South Carolina. After two years, he taught band at Robbinsville Middle and High Schools for a year before becoming the founding Director of Bands at Cox Mill High School in Concord, North Carolina. Major accomplishments teaching at the secondary level include one of his symphonic bands auditioning and being selected to perform at the 2013 North Carolina Music Educators State Conference, multiple superior ratings, grand championships, awards, and recognitions from his instrumental ensembles. After eight years of numerous achievements at Cox Mill High School, he moved into his role at Limestone University (Gaffney, South Carolina) as Director of Athletic Bands, elevating many elements of Limestone’s athletic band program. A major accomplishment of the Limestone University Marching Saints was auditioning and being selected to lead one of the afternoon parades at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in January 2019. Just before his role at Hinds Community College, Dr. Earp was the Director of Instrumental Music at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina. Tasked with reviving the instrumental music program at Pfeiffer, he re-established the wind ensemble and pep band. Additionally, he wrote Pfeiffer’s first fight song which was adopted by the school’s student government association. Dr. Earp also ensured the instrumental building at Pfeiffer received much-needed renovations.
In addition to teaching, Dr. Earp is an active published composer and arranger with his music being performed internationally. His works are made available by BKJ Publications, Carl Fischer, CTS Publications (Distributed by C. L. Barnhouse), and RWS Music Company (Distributed by Alfred Music). Dr. Earp’s major compositional accomplishments include being the winner of the 2010 Claude T. Smith Composition Contest in Missouri, winner of the 2018 Thornton Community Band Composition Contest in Colorado, multiple J.W. Pepper Editors’ Choice awards, and multiple works selected to be part of the Band World Magazine Top 100. He currently resides in Clinton, Mississippi with his wife Mary Beth and sons Jackson and Jasper.
More about Dr. Earp can be found at www.joeemusic.com. Follow Dr. Earp on social media @earpcomposer.