With over forty years of history, the band program at C.W. Post provides university students with outstanding performance and educational opportunities, featuring on-campus performances at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, and off-campus performances at local venues, as well as regional, state and national conferences. The band program has commissioned new works from leading composers and presents the C.W. Post Band Festival at Tilles Center every other spring. University ensembles include a flexibly instrumentated Wind Ensemble, a large, fully-instrumentated Symphonic Band, and a Pep Band.

C.W. Post Wind Ensemble

Dedicated to presenting the finest repertoire from all musical periods to its audiences, the Wind Ensemble draws from contemporary and historical wind works, orchestral transcriptions, as well as standard band literature. The size and instrumentation of the Wind Ensemble is flexible and is dictated by the demands of the music being performed. This ensemble consists of the most outstanding wind and percussion players at the university.

C.W. Post Symphonic Band

The Symphonic Band is an 80-member concert band consisting of graduate and undergraduate music majors, minors, as well as interested university students. The Symphonic Band performs standard repertoire as well as the most current compositions written for concert band. A fully instrumentated ensemble with several players per part, the Symphonic Band regularly commissions new works for band and features guest composers, conductors, and world-class soloists in performance.

C.W. Post Department of Music

Performance opportunities for wind and percussion students include a Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combo, Brass Ensemble, Flute Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Saxophone Ensemble, Merriweather Consort: Early Music Ensemble, and Pep Band. A full series of recitals and student concerts provide opportunities for students to perform as soloists, and as part of trios, quartets, and other chamber music combinations. In addition to workshops and masterclasses, over 75 student performances are hosted on campus each year, with several more occurring off campus at local and regional venues. The university is home to the C.W. Post Chamber Music Festival, celebrating its 22nd season in 2003. This three-week summer festival provides students an opportunity to learn and perform in a variety of settings from duets to larger chamber ensembles, while being coached by a world-class faculty. Two faculty ensembles are in-residence at C.W. Post, The Pierrot Consort, (piano, string, and wind chamber ensemble) and the Long Island Brassworks (brass quintet). The campus is also home to Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, Long Island's premiere professional concert hall. Tilles Center presents over 70 professional events each season in music, dance, and theater, featuring world-renowned artists. The Center is also the theatrical home for many of Long Island's leading arts organizations, including the Long Island Philharmonic.

Set high on a hill overlooking Long Island Sound, the Fine Arts Center houses the Department of Music, creating an intimate, conservatory-like atmosphere within the framework of a large liberal arts university campus of 12,000 students. The quality of our programs plus the rural beauty of the campus within a close proximity to New York City, has served as a major attraction for perspective students. The Department offers Bachelor of Music Degrees in Music Performance and Music Education, Bachelor of Science Degrees in Music, Music Education, and Arts Management, Master of Arts Degrees in Music History/Literature and Music Theory/Composition, and a Master of Science Degree in Music Education.

James W. McRoy is currently Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Long Island University/C.W. Post. At C.W. Post, Mr. McRoy directs all aspects of the band program, conducting the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Pep Band. Mr. McRoy teaches and coordinates the undergraduate and graduate conducting sequence and teaches instrumental conducting lessons. Mr. McRoy also teaches instrumental music education courses, and coordinates the Brass Studies Area.

A native New Yorker, Mr. McRoy holds bachelors and masters degrees in Music Education from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, CUNY. He has taught high school band in New York for ten years and for two years was the Associate Director of Bands at Ball State University in Indiana. Mr. McRoy is active on the executive board of the New York State Band Directors Association, and is currently the 2nd Vice President of that organization. He has chaired numerous All-County and Area All-State ensembles, and is now an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in both the northeast and midwest.

Mr. McRoy has presented research at the state level and he holds professional memberships in Kappa Delta Pi, Music Educators National Conference, New York State Band Directors Association, College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, College Music Society, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Matt Sullivan, oboist, has performed extensively on four continents and is recognized internationally as a virtuoso performer and teacher, as well as an important advocate for the modern oboe. The New York Times has praised his "gorgeously lyrical playing" and the New Yorker has called his inventive performances "the cutting edge". As composer, his innovative works created for oboe, English horn and digital horn, along with his solo and chamber music performances and Compact Discs, have been featured on National Public Radio and on Voice of America.

In addition to his active teaching and solo recital schedule, he is a member of Musicians' Accord, the Richardson Chamber Players (Princeton University), The Quintet of the Americas, the Westchester Chamber Orchestra, First Avenue, and The Weekend of Chamber Music Festival in Sullivan County, New York. He serves on the faculties of Long Island University/C.W. Post, the European Mozart Academy (Warsaw), and the Manhattan School of Music.