Thomas Cowan
President
Chairman of the Board

Thomas Cowan is Associate Director of the Center for Technology Management at Columbia University. This follows a career building software companies and working for IBM. Tom has developed a role as a CEO/Entrepreneur creating value through the strategic use and management of technology. His market depth is enterprise software, centered on data analytics, mobile enablement, and SaaS pricing and delivery.

His career includes two decades at IBM (1977-2000), starting in Finance and moving to CFO and GM roles. Tom is currently Associate Director of the Center for Technology Management at Columbia University (Dec 2015-present). He also serves as a board director and strategic advisor to a number of technology companies.

He is the author of From Idea to Business, Business Basics, and Leadership Basics. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Wake Forest University and an MBA from the University of South Carolina. He lives with his family in Connecticut and Arizona.

Harris Wood
Vice Chairman of the Board

Harris, originally from Texas, is a resident of Alexandria, VA, where he practiced Energy Law for 40 years. Now retired, he is enjoying a second “career” as a horn playing musician in volunteer positions in the Northern Virginia/District of Columbia area. These include principal horn in two large community bands, a brass choir and the National Medical Musical Group Chorus and Orchestra. Harris is A 10-year attendee as an adult student at KBHC (2006-2015) and has served for seven years on the Cormont Music Board of Directors.

Bernhard Scully
Artistic Director

Bernhard was a student of Kendall Betts and has been integrally involved with the camp since its inception in 1995. He currently is the horn player for the Canadian Brass and horn professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was formerly Principal Horn of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and has worked with many symphony orchestras across North America including the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra. He is in demand as a soloist and has numerous solo recordings to his credit. He earned his Bachelor's Degree with honors from Northwestern University, and his Master's Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he attended on the Paul Collins Distinguished Fellowship. In 2009, he was the first classical brass player to receive a McKnight Fellowship, and in 2010 the University of Wisconsin-Madison awarded him the distinguished alumni award for excellence in artistry. For more information on Bernhard, please see the following sites:

BernhardScully.com

www.music.illinois.edu/faculty/bernhard-scully

www.canadianbrass.com/bernhard-bio/

Peggy Moran
Executive Director

Peggy Moran is the Assistant Professor of Horn at the University of Central Oklahoma. She is a member of the Redbud Brass Quintet and the horn/ flute duo Heavy Metal, and currently performs as an extra horn with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the Tulsa Symphony. Before moving to Oklahoma in 2012, Peggy performed for a decade in the Indianapolis area, playing with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic, and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.

Peggy received her DM in Horn Performance and Literature from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she also received an MM and Performer's Diploma in Horn. She received her BA from the University of Chicago, with a thesis in Music Theory. Her primary teachers have been Jeff Nelsen, Michael Hatfield, Richard Seraphinoff, and Ethel Merker.

Peggy was a participant for many years at KBHC, beginning in 1996, and was a staff member from 2011-2014. She has been a board member since 2007 and a member of the Scholarship Committee since 2010. Peggy’s students from Indiana and Oklahoma have attended KBHC as well - one of those students is now a current staff member herself! Having seen the impact of the camp on her own career and those of her students, Peggy is passionate about the mission of this unique musical community.

Jo Oliver
Secretary

Jo Oliver first schooled in English, but the advent of personal computers lured her into a cybercareer. She is now a retired information technology specialist who volunteers throughout the year doing free income tax return preparation for low- and middle-income earners in the Austin, TX, area. She has attended KBHC since 1998 and, as a lifelong amateur horn player, has chalked up decades of experience in community bands, orchestras, and chamber ensembles. She has served on the Cormont Music Board of Directors since Kendall Betts invited her to join in 2003. She is committed to furthering the unique contribution KBHC makes to the global horn community.

Gretchen Zook
Treasurer

Gretchen Burne Zook serves on the Board of Directors and is Treasurer of Cormont Music. Her professional career since 1976 has been with The Northern Trust Company, Chicago where she is a Senior Vice President. In this capacity she provides expertise on the legal, accounting and regulatory aspects of the bank’s business related to cash flows, liquidity, and balance sheet recognition. During her tenure with The Northern Trust Company, she has acted in a variety of roles including: cash management, operational management, product management, expansion activities, and balance sheet risk and control.

Gretchen is a native Philadelphian and studied French Horn at Temple University and the Philadelphia Musical Academy with John Simonelli. After a lapse in playing of many years, Gretchen began attending Kendall Betts Horn Camp in 2002. Her friendship with Kendall Betts, however, began in Philadelphia in the very early 70s. She presently plays in the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra. Gretchen also serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer for The Solti Foundation U.S. and as a member of the Board of Directors for Rush Hour Concerts.

John Wunderlin
Director

After a long and successful career first as a computer programmer then entrepreneur and business owner, John decided to follow his passion and returned to school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014 to complete his Master's degree in horn performance with Daniel Grabois which he completed in 2016. This decision was made in large part due to his long association with the Kendall Betts horn camp. After attending camp for many years starting in 1999, John's playing ability improved to the point of winning a position with the Beloit-Janesville Symphony in 2008.

In addition to the Beloit-Janesville Symphony, John won the 4th horn position with the LaCrosse symphony in 2018 and has performed with other orchestras including Madison, Dubuque, Waukesha and Milwaukee Civic. John is a frequent player for musical theater productions and has been in the pit for more than two dozen shows. John has played with many chamber ensembles including the Dubuque Brass, Pentissimo, TetraCor, Zephyr Winds, Roundtree Ensemble and the Isthmus Brass. In 2012, John recorded a CD of Clifton Williams' music with the Roundtree Wind Symphony (Mark Records). John is the current director of the Madison Horn Club.

Susan Zollers
Director

Originally a northeast Ohio native, Susan ended up in the Houston, TX area after a series of relocations. Thanks to degrees in chemistry from SUNY Potsdam and a Ph. D. from Texas A&M University, she currently works in the petrochemical industry. However, music and horn playing have always been an integral part of her life. She studied music at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, and several years later, continued studies in Le Havre, France, where she earned “Niveau Fin d’Etudes” at the Conservatoire Arthur Honegger.

Susan plays 3rd horn with the Brazosport Symphony Orchestra, in addition to being a member on its board of directors. Formerly, she was President of the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra and played 2nd horn.

She is an adult KBHC veteran since 2005, and was invited by Kendall Betts to be a board member of Cormont Music in 2013. Susan is a strong advocate for KBHC and the unique opportunities it offers to players of all ages.

Jesse McCormick
Associate Artistic Director

Jesse McCormick was appointed to the horn section of The Cleveland Orchestra in 2006. He previously served three seasons with the Colorado Symphony, and two seasons as a member of the Denver Brass. On New Year’s Eve 2013, Mr. McCormick appeared on the nationally-televised PBS series Live from Lincoln Center, performing as guest associate principal horn with the New York Philharmonic. In 2005, he took top prize in the Professional Division at the International Horn Competition of America. He has also made solo appearances with the Denver Brass, Windworks Ensemble in Capetown (South Africa), and the Chamber Orchestra of Colorado Springs. In 2015, Mr. McCormick performed the Haydn Double Horn Concerto with Richard King and The Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. McCormick is currently a member of the “Factory Seconds Brass Trio,” an ensemble comprised with fellow Cleveland Orchestra members Richard Stout and Jack Sutte.

Jesse has been a member of the faculty at Baldwin Wallace University since 2007. He has also lectured at the Cleveland Institute of Music and with Case Western Reserve University. In recent years, Mr. McCormick has appeared as a clinician at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, University of Denver, University of Florida, Florida State University, and University of Miami. He has also taught masterclasses in South Korea, South Africa, and Colombia.

Jesse began his studies with Sally Ann Wilson of Colorado Springs and completed his studies with Jerome Ashby at the Juilliard School. He currently resides in Shaker Heights with his husband, attorney Landon Paul, and their three cats.

Julie Gerhardt
Operations Director

Julie Gerhardt works as a freelance horn player and teacher based in metro Atlanta. She holds positions in the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra and the Albany (GA) Symphony Orchestra and has served as a substitute or extra hornist with orchestras throughout the Southeast.

Since earning her undergraduate degree in instrumental music education from Indiana University in 2001, Julie has served as a middle school band director, marching band technician, horn instructor, and music theory professor. Now, in her role as a horn evangelist, Julie maintains a thriving studio of private horn students and works daily as a horn section coach for middle and high school band programs in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Julie is also the horn instructor at the University of West Georgia.

Julie’s graduate study took her to the University of Georgia, the University of New Hampshire, and back to her undergraduate alma mater, Indiana University.  Julie earned the Master of Arts in Music: Music Studies at UNH in 2010 as a student of Kendall Betts and went on to earn the Performer Diploma at IU in 2012.

Julie attended the Kendall Betts Horn Camp in 2006 and 2007, her first year on KBHC staff was 2009, she assumed the role of associate operations director in 2016, and operations director in 2018.