INSTRUMENTAL

Mr. Conner Kinmon is currently the band director at HCHS. Mr. Kinmon comes to Henderson from the University of Kentucky where he graduated summa cum laude. Prior to this appointment Mr. Kinmon worked in the Fayette County Public School system as a substitute teacher, exclusively subbing for band and music classes. Along with substitute teaching, Mr. Kinmon was the private instructor of trumpet at Lafayette High School. While attending UK, Mr. Kinmon was a senior assistant for the University of Kentucky Wildcat Marching Band. In addition to his high school duties, Mr. Kinmon remains an avid trumpet player. While attending the University of Kentucky, he was a member of the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble and various chamber ensemble. In 2017, Conner co-conducted the University of Kentucky Brass Ensemble at the KMEA Annual Conference. Mr. Kinmon is a former member of the University of Kentucky trumpet ensemble, placing 2nd at the National Trumpet Competition Ensemble Division in both 2014 and 2016. Mr. Kinmon is also a member of Shades of Blue Trumpet Quintet, the first collegiate trumpet ensemble to record an album of original works written for trumpet ensemble. Mr. Kinmon is a proud colonel and fills his time directing the Concert, Symphonic, Wind Ensemble, Colonel's Brigade and Guard and Jazz Band.

Mr. Tyler Simms is a native of Madisonville, Ky, and is the Assistand Band Director at HCHS. He also teaches guitar and piano. He is currently finishing a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he previously instructed undergraduate and graduate students in Applied Trombone and Trombone Choir. Simms obtained a Master’s Degree in Trombone Performance and Literature from the renowned Eastman School of Music in 2017 and was the first Master’s candidate to earn the Eastman Certificate in College Music Teaching since the Certificate’s inception. He earned a Bachelor’s in Instrumental Music Education from the University of Kentucky in 2015. 

Simms has made guest and regular appearances with prolific ensembles including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (OH), Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (OH), The Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra (KY), the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra (MA), and as a featured guest artist with the Eastman Wind Ensemble (NY).

In 2016 Simms co-founded Flower City Brass, an eclectic outlet for brass chamber music offering creative performances of highly diverse repertoire ranging from J.S. Bach to Berio. Most recently, Flower City Brass was invited as the sole American brass ensemble to compete at the Philip Jones International Brass Competition in Manchester, England. Previously, the quintet was invited to the third annual Stockholm Chamber Brass Academy in Leksand, Sweden, where they spent a week working and performing alongside the Stockholm Chamber Brass, one of the world’s leading brass ensembles. In February of 2018, Flower City Brass was featured with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, performing Jeff Tyzik’s New York Cityscape. 

Simms co-released an album of art song transcriptions in 2015 entitled Songs Without Words, available on Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon.