Michael Burch-Pesses is Director of Bands at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band, and teaches courses in conducting and music education. He holds Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in conducting from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Since coming to Pacific University in 1995 he has received two awards for excellence in teaching, and in 2017 Pacific University named him a Distinguished University Professor. In 2018 the Oregon Music Educators Association gave him the John C. McManus Distinguished Teacher Award, the highest award Oregon bestows on a music educator.

He enjoyed a distinguished career as a bandmaster in the United States Navy before arriving at Pacific University. During his Navy career he served as Leader of the Naval Academy Band in Annapolis, Maryland, Assistant Leader of the Navy Band in Washington, DC, and Director of the Commodores, the Navy’s official jazz ensemble.

Dr. Burch-Pesses also is the Conductor and Musical Director of the award-winning Oregon Symphonic Band, Oregon’s premier adult band. In 2006 the band performed at the prestigious Midwest Clinic, and in 2007 the John Philip Sousa Foundation awarded the band the Sudler Silver Scroll, recognizing them as one of the outstanding community bands in the nation. Dr. Burch-Pesses is the author of “Canadian Band Music: A Qualitative Guide to Canadian Composers and Their Works for Band,” and is a regular contributor to the “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band” series.

His professional affiliations include the American Bandmasters Association, National Band Association, Association of Concert Bands, Northwest Band Directors Association, Oregon Music Educators Association, and the National Association for Music Education. He is Past President of the Oregon Band Directors Association, and a founding member of the Oregon chapter of Phi Beta Mu.