LTHS Music Faculty :::
Sam Baker earned his bachelors degree in Music Education at Elmhurst College, where he studied both classical and jazz vocal music education. While at Elmhurst, Mr. Baker toured the country as Student Director of the internationally-recognized vocal jazz group Late Night Blues. In addition to his choral duties at LT, Mr. Baker teaches Beginning and Intermediate Guitar, as well as Rock to Bach. In 2010, he was music director for the LT theater’s production of Ragtime. In the 2010-11 school year, Mr. Baker was musical director for both The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Seussical the Musical. His love of music carries over when he leaves LT as an active performer in the Chicago area, as well as in his church, where he is a part of the Worship and Praise team.
Mark Dahl holds a Bachelors Degree in Saxophone Performance and a Masters Degree
in Music Education from Northern Illinois University. He has studied conducting with Steven Squires
and Dr. Ronnie Wooten and jazz pedagogy with Ron Carter.
Mark is currently band director and assistant division chair for Fine Arts at Lyons Township
High School in LaGrange, Illinois. The program consists of 2 Concert Bands, Symphonic Band, Wind
Ensemble, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Jazz Lab Band and Jazz Ensemble. In 2004, his jazz band (St.
Charles North High School) was one of 15 selected from the United States and Canada for the
Essentially Ellington Competition hosted by Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. In addition to
his school responsibilities, Mark maintains a busy schedule as a performer and clinician throughout
the Chicago area. He has guest conducted several IMEA all district jazz groups and was director of
the All-State Jazz Band in Rhode Island (2008). He has been on the staff of the Birch Creek Summer
Jazz Camp (yearly since 2001), the Northern Illinois University Jazz Camp and Summer Jazz Week at
First Conservatory. Mark has performed with Johnny Frigo, Jim Galaredo, Mark Colby, Vince Maggio,
John McLean, Bob Havens and Bobby Wilson.
Jane Ewing has been the orchestra director at Lyons Township High School since
1998. She earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and a
Masters of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While in Madison, Ms. Ewing served as a
teaching assistant in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, and she served as Assistant Manager of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras.
In 1997, in partnership with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, she wrote curriculum surrounding the
Ancient String Instrument Collection for the Cultural Arts Division, Museum of American History.
Ms. Ewing previously taught music in Illinois in District #300 and at Lexington Unit 7 Schools.
Other past roles for Ms. Ewing have included Assistant Director of Intermediate Girls at the
Interlochen Arts Camp and staff member with Illinois Ambassadors of Music European Tour. She also
is a church musician at Lakeside Church in Skokie, Illinois.
Connie Lyda received a B.S. in Music Education and a M.M. in Choral Conducting from the University of Illinois. She taught choir for 3 years at Oswego High School, and in fall of 1986, began teaching at L.T.H.S. She has accompanied and directed the Training Chorus of the Glen Ellyn Children's Choirs (now Anima), been a section leader at the Illinois Summer Youth Music camps, and directed the Georgia Junior High Women's 1990 All-State Choir. She has been a section leader and accompanist of the IMEA District I and All-State Festival Choirs. She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, MENC: the National Association for Music Education, and the Illinois Music Educators Association. She has toured with OHS and LTHS choirs to many choral festivals and colleges, including St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, Interlochen Academy of the Arts in Traverse City, Michigan, and most recently to Quebec City and Montreal.
John Musick graduated from Millikin University in 2001. Since graduation he has been the music director and bass for the nationally acclaimed a cappella group Chapter 6. With Chapter 6, John has lead workshops and master-classes for junior high, high school, college and professional musicians across the country. In his tenure with the group and as a solo singer, John has had the privilege of performing with symphonies such as the National Symphony in Washington D.C. and at venues like the National Center for the Performing Arts in Hong Kong. John has conducted several classical and jazz district festival choirs for the Illinois Music Educator's Association and has been a clinician and judge for choir competitions across the Midwest.
Known for his professionalism and congenial nature, Huei-Yuan Pan is considered by many to be one of the top rising performers and educators in the percussion world. The diversity of his background has provided him with such a high level of well-rounded expertise that he is consistently sought after to provide masterclasses and clinics throughout the United States, as well as Asia, having traveled to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan. Educational presentations have most recently included Alvin HS Day of Percussion, Elk Grove HS Day of Percussion, VanderCook College of Music, Oklahoma Band Director's Association, and East Central University. It is with great passion that he strives to promote music through education and performance.
Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Mr. Pan attended The University of Texas at Austin, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Human Learning, and continued his studies at Northwestern University, receiving a Masters of Music degree in Percussion Performance and Literature. During that time, he worked with the Longhorn Marching Band and Wildcat Marching Band Drumlines. His marching percussion experience includes the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps (2001) and The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps (2002-2004). In 2008, he became Director of Green Thunder Percussion, an educational division sponsored by The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps for high school age students in the Chicagoland area, and in 2012 decided to dedicate his time solely to the arranging and composition aspect of the GTP design team.
Mr. Pan has served on the music faculty at Lyons Township HS in La Grange, IL since 2007, taught courses ranging from Concert Band, Jazz Band, AP Music Theory, to Beginning Folk Guitar, and was recently awarded tenure in 2011.