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Tom Hessney

Founder

Tom is the Founder and inspiration behind BME.  A life-long music educator and performing musician, he has assembled a great group of musicians who share his passion for the music BME plays.  In addition to being a talented trumpeter, he also arranges the music for the ensemble and is the Director as well.  In addition to BME, Tom performs with the Naples Concert Band and the Bonita Springs Concert Band.

Meet the Band

We have a talented group of professional musicians, with the experience to make any moment memorable!  Meet the Band!

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David Michalewsky

Flugelhorn

Dave retired to Florida after teaching music in New Jersey for 40 years. Dave graduated from Glassboro Sate College with a BA in Music Education and from Trenton State College with an MA in Music with a concentration in Instrumental Conducting. While in NJ Dave performed with several bands and quintets. He played principal trumpet with the Hunterdon Symphony and was featured soloist when the symphony toured Austria and the Czech Republic for the Mozart 250th birthday celebration.

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Mary Zitnik

Flugelhorn & Vocalist

Mary holds a BM in voice performance from DePaul University. Prior to relocating to Florida, Mary appeared as a soloist and ensemble member with many groups in Chicago and the Chicago metro area, including the Grammy-winning Chicago Symphony Chorus. She recorded several commercial jingles as well as the CD Totally Catholic, an album of original Catholic Christian music. Mary's performance background includes classical, contemporary, pop, and rock.
As an instrumentalist, Mary is also a member of the Naples and Bonita Springs Concert Bands and the Symphonic Winds of SWFL.

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Dave Drewek

French Horn

Dave is a retired automotive engineer and a snowbird from Harrison Township, Michigan. Dave holds a master's degree in engineering and enjoys playing with the Naples Concert Band.

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Kathy Williams

French Horn

Now a full-time resident of southwest Florida, Kathy hails from Pottstown, Pennsylvania. With her master's in music, she taught music for 41 years in the PA public school system at the multiple levels of elementary through high school. At retirement, Kathy was honored by being a guest conductor with the Pennsylvania Philharmonic Orchestra. Today, Kathy plays in several local music groups.

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Jason Apostoleris

Percussion

Jason is a New York drummer who studied at the New School for Jazz Performance in Manhattan and has studied privately with many of New York’s top jazz drummers, including Keith Copeland, Michael Carvin, Adam Nussbaum and Bernard Purdie. He has performed over the last thirty years with many New York musicians from the bands of Lionel Hampton and Harry Connick Jr. Jason has worked in all styles of music from Jazz and Rock to Concert and Big Bands. He has recently come to SWFL to perform professionally with many of the top jazz musicians from this area.

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DeFino Dance Team

Studio Dancers

John and Penny DeFino are longtime residents of North Fort Myers. Formerly a Research Engineer and a Medical Assistant, they currently teach ballroom dance in the local area. Their career accomplishments include USA Dance National Ballroom Champions for their division and six-time USA Dance National Finalists in American and International style ballroom dance.

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Curt Kumpf

Trombone

Curt is from Minot North Dakota. He has performed with the Purdue University Symphonic Band, the Minot Symphony, the Minot Symphonic Brass Band, the Renaissance Brass Quintet, the Jazz Band of Minot and numerous backup bands. He has performed with the Lee County Community Band,and is an active member in the Bonita Springs Concert Band, Naples Concert Band, and the Lehigh Concert Band.

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Dan Hoenigman

Trombone

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Matthew Murrell

Trombone

Matthew is a graduate of Florida International University's Music Education program and has been a middle school band director since 2010. He has performed with the Gulf Coast Symphony, the Naples Concert Band, and Sun Coast Brass along with Brass Music Elements. He is a clinician in the area and mentors young music teachers. Currently he is the Middle School Band Director at the Canterbury School in Fort Myers

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Robert Maxwell

Trombone

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Kathy Kvet

Trumpet

Kathy holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baldwin-Wallace University and a Master of Music degree from the College-Conservatory, University of Cincinnati. She taught choral and instrumetal music in Ohio, Michigan and New Orleans. In addition to her teaching, Kathy has played principal trumpet with the Cleveland Women's Orchestra, Middletown Symphony, Midland Symphony and as an extra trumpet with the New Orleans Symphony. Currently, Kathy plays with the Naples Concert Band and the Santa Fe (NM) Concert Band in the summer.

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Scott Osler

Trumpet

Scott is formerly of Massachusetts. He holds a BA from Bates College, a JD from Northeastern University, and received his musical education at the Rivers Music School. When he isn't out kayaking, Scott also plays with the Bonita Concert Band, Southwest Florida Concert Band, Sanibel Big Arts Concert Band, and Haffenkapelle.

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Steve Dean

Trumpet

Steve Dean is a graduate of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, where he received his Bachelors in Trumpet Performance and Music Education and his Masters in Music Education. He has been a middle school band director since 2012. Currently, he is the band and chorus director at Cypress Lake Middle School in Fort Myers.

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Steve Finkelstein

Trumpet

Steve is Canadian and grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. Steve went into the family furniture upholstering business and eventually worked with hotels and restaurants in refurbishing their properties. Steve was a performer with the Wedding / Corporate Cover Band for over 35 years. In 2012 he and his wife moved to Niagara Falls. Steve plays with the Jimmy Stahl Big Band as well as Brass Music Elements

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Tom Hessney

Trumpet

Tom is formerly of Massachusetts. Tom holds a BS in Music from Berklee College, Boston and an MS in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Before retiring Tom was Director of Music at Blackstone-Millville Regional School District. As one of the most respected band directors in Massachusetts, Tom was inducted into the Paul Smith Hall of Fame. Tom is the Director and arranger for Brass Music Elements.

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Berge Johnson

Tuba

Berge is a Snowbird from Minnesota and holds a BS from St. Cloud State University. His career was that of a Public-School Band Director for 35 years. Berge plays several brass instruments in diverse music groups.

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Clay Nesler

Tuba

Now a full-time resident in Florida, Clay has worked in Wisconsin, Germany and Washington, DC as an engineer and currently as a part-time contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy. While attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he played with the symphonic band and has since played tuba in several community bands including the Southwest Florida Concert Band.

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Janna Braun

Vocalist and Keyboard

Janna is from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. She now resides in Fort Myers. She did her undergraduate work at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and has a Master's degree in vocal performance from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Janna sang with the Dallas Opera Company and Anoka Opera in Minnesota.
In recent years, Janna has been playing jazz piano with vocal for private and corporate events, including a jazz band performance at the Minneapolis Convention Center for an international convention.
Her newest joy in life is her 3 grandchildren.

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