Band Directors

James G. Hudson, Director of Athletic Bands

James G. Hudson serves as director of athletic bands for the ASU Herberger Institute School of Music. His duties include coordination and direction of the Sun Devil Marching Band, Basketball Bands and the Dixie Devils Dixieland Band.

Mr. Hudson received a bachelors of music education degree from Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) and a masters of music in wind band conducting from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. His professional affiliations include CBDNA, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, Phi Mu Alpha, Phi Beta Mu, MENC, Texas Music Educators, Texas Bandmasters, Kansas Music Educators, Kansas Bandmasters, Missouri Music Educators, Missouri Bandmasters and Iowa Bandmasters. He is a very active adjudicator, drill designer and clinician, and has adjudicated for Bands of America, the University Interscholastic League (Texas), the Kentucky Music Educators Association, the Kansas Music Educators Association, the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association, the Iowa High School Music Association and the Iowa Jazz Championships, Inc., as well as many university sponsored festivals and contests. He is also currently on the instructional staff for Bowl Games of America, and has assisted in the production of halftime shows for the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, the Alamo Bowl, the Orange Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game.

Prior to his appointment at ASU, he served for three years as Director of Athletic Bands at the University of Kansas and for eleven years as Director of Bands at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University). While at the University of Kansas, he directed the University of Kansas Marching Jayhawks, the Volleyball and Basketball Bands, KU Jazz Ensemble II and the University Band. He also serves as coordinator of the Midwest Music Camps. While at Southwest Texas, the Pride of the Hillcountry Marching Band performed internationally in Switzerland, Italy, France and Ireland and nationally at the 1999 Bands of America Grand National Championships. The band also performed extensively in Texas for the University Interscholastic League and Bands of America. In 1995, the ³Pride² was selected to appear on the Video Express production ³Best of the College Bands².

His public school teaching experience includes one year at Harmony Community Schools in Farmington, IA and nine years at Oskaloosa Community Schools in Oskaloosa, IA. While at Oskaloosa his band received many honors and distinctions including 4 Bands of America Summer National Class A Championships, performances at the Fiesta Bowl National Pageant of Bands and Parade, 1990 State 3-A Jazz Champions and 1990 Iowa Bandmasters Honor Jazz Band.

His family includes his wife Denise, who is currently a colorguard instructor for the Sun Devil Marching Band and has been on the instructional staff at Oskaloosa High School, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Southwest Texas State University, the University of Kansas, Blue Springs High School and the Sky Ryders Winterguard. Additionally, she was co founder of the Millennia Winterguard from Texas. They have one son, Aaron, who is a graduate of ASU and alumni of the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps.

Dr. Jason Caslor, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands

Dr. Jason Caslor assumed his duties as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Arizona State University (ASU) in the fall of 2019 after four years as their Associate Director of Bands and Orchestras. In addition to overseeing all aspects of the ASU Wind Bands program, he also directs the Wind Ensemble, mentors graduate conducting students, and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting courses. In concert, Dr. Caslor has collaborated with, among other ensembles, the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the National Youth Band of Canada, the South Dakota All State Band, and the Alberta Wind Symphony. As a researcher and teacher, his efforts have lead to engagements in Sweden, Austria, Germany, and throughout North America.

From 2010-2015, he was assistant professor of instrumental conducting at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada where he conducted the Wind Ensemble and oversaw the undergraduate and graduate instrumental conducting programs. Prior to that, he spent three seasons as resident conductor with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (TBSO). During his tenure with the TBSO, he conducted more than 75 concerts (including a CBC Radio national broadcast) and recorded a full-length, internationally distributed CD with Canadian blues artist Rita Chiarelli. Recipient of an “Excellence in Teaching Award” from Memorial University’s Students’ Union in 2012, Caslor also spent several years teaching in the public school system as an instrumental and choral educator.

In addition to numerous regional engagements, Caslor has conducted the National Youth Band of Canada, the South Dakota All State Band, the South Dakota Intercollegiate Band, the Oregon State University Wind Ensemble, the University of Nevada-Reno Wind Ensemble, and Canadian honour bands in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, and Prince Edward Island. He has also presented his research at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the WASBE International Conference (San Jose, CA), the CBDNA National Conference (Greensboro, NC), the International Society for Music Education - Special Music Education and Music Therapy Pre-Conference Commission Seminar (Austria), the International Society for Research and Promotion of Wind Music International Conference (Germany), and the Riksförbundet Unga Musikanter Wind Band Symposium (Sweden).

Caslor completed his doctorate in conducting at Arizona State University. Prior to earning a master's in conducting from the University of Manitoba, Canada, he earned dual bachelor in music and education degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.