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ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

MHFB WINDS & MHFB YOUTH DIRECTOR

Derek Hebert is now entering his tenth season as the Artistic Director of the Mile High Freedom Bands. He joined the MHFB trombone section in 2012, took over as bandleader of MHFB Swing in 2013, and was appointed the organization’s Artistic Director in spring 2014. Derek directs MHFB Winds and MHFB Youth and participates in each of MHFB’s ensembles and events.

Derek earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree with honors from the University of Colorado-Boulder and a Master of Music degree in conducting from Colorado State University.

Outside of MHFB, Derek is the Director of Bands and Performing Arts Chair for The Academy in Westminster, Colorado. Since 2013, Academy Bands have grown exponentially and frequently receive the highest marks at music festivals across the state, scoring in the top 10% of high school bands from across Colorado. His students are routinely selected for Colorado All-State ensembles in band, orchestra, and jazz, as well as several local honor ensembles.

Derek and his husband Brad traded the humid swamps of their native Louisiana for the mountains of Colorado in 2006. Brad can often be found in MHFB’s percussion section and involved in lots of creative endeavors for the bands. A little suburb north of Denver is home, where they live with their kitty Winifred.

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ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

MHFB SWING DIRECTOR

Shawn Williams is a jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator, appointed in the fall of 2020 as MHFB Swing Director.

Prior to moving to Colorado, Shawn thrived in the San Francisco Bay Area where he established himself as an educator and performer. Among the many intuitions he taught at, Shawn served as the adjunct jazz trumpet instructor at Chabot College in Hayward, CA. While in the Bay Area, Shawn performed with groups such as: Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, Foreverland, RAFA, the Bad Five, Dick Bright Orchestra and the Shawn Williams Quintet. Shawn has performed at the San Jose Jazz Festival, the Stanford Jazz Festival and the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Most recently, Shawn has performed with the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra and the Colorado Jazz Orchestra. You can hear Shawn on many recent recordings, including: All in One (2018) featuring compositions by David Caffey, and Time Child (2019) featuring trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and compositions by Erik Applegate. In 2019, Shawn was invited to join the United States Air Force Academy Band and Falconaires Jazz Ensemble as a manning assistant on multiple tours in Colorado, Alambama, and Georgia.

Shawn has gained nationwide attention through his involvement with the National Trumpet Competition, where he was a finalist in 2011, 2015 and 2016 and received third place in both 2015 and 2016. In 2012 and 2013, Shawn held the jazz trumpet chair in the Glenn Miller Orchestra of which he travelled to forty-seven states, Japan and Portugal. In January 2013, Shawn played on the orchestra’s latest record In the Mood. Additionally, Shawn has travelled to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands as a trumpeter for Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Shawn holds a B.M in Jazz Studies from California State University, Northridge (2009), an M.M in Jazz & Contemporary Media from the Eastman School of Music (2011) and an M.A in Teaching from Santa Clara University (2016). Shawn is completed his Doctor of Arts degree in Jazz Performance / Composition from the University of Northern Colorado in December 2020. His doctoral dissertation Three in One: The Style, Structure, and Sound of Thad Jones as a Jazz Trumpeter, gives focus to the analysis of Thad Jones’ improvisation and composition style.

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ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

MHFB STRINGS DIRECTOR

Misty Green is a violinist, conductor, and educator from and currently residing in Northern Colorado. She holds a degree in music education from Colorado State University and currently works as an Orchestra Teacher in the Adams12 school district. In addition, Misty is the Concertmaster for the Flatirons Community Orchestra and directs the MHFB Strings Orchestra. Outside of music, Misty enjoys playing Magic the Gathering, solving Rubik’s puzzles, and being outdoors. 

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ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

MHFB CORPS CO-DIRECTOR

Kalin Peña is a composer, tubist, and music educator, having performed with MHFB since 2016. Kalin is excited to continue into their second year as an Assistant Director working with MHFB Corps. In addition to performances, Kalin has composed and arranged multiple works for MHFB Winds and MHFB Corps.

Inspired and motivated by their MHFB family, Kalin realized a lifelong goal in 2022 earning a Bachelor of Music Education degree with honors from Metropolitan State University of Denver. During this time, Kalin also published works for solo tuba and chamber wind ensembles. Outside of MHFB, Kalin teaches band and drumline at West High School in Denver.

A cold-weather aficionado, Kalin enjoys skiing, playing ice hockey and long hikes to escape the Summer heat.

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ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

MHFB CORPS CO-DIREECTOR

Jeremy Vera has been a musician for as long as he can remember and has been a member of a community band for over 10 years. He joined as soon as he found out a “gay band” existed. Originally a Saxophone player, when he first saw a French Horn, he decided to give it a try. Aside from playing saxophone and horn, Jeremy loves to dust off his Baritone every December for the yearly tradition of performing with the TubaChristmas ensemble.

Since moving to Denver he has been an active member of MHFB and has served on the board (2020-2022). Prior to joining MHFB, he was Assistant Director of DC’s Different Drummers Marching Band in Washington, DC. Jeremy enjoys tackling logistics, has a creative mind, and loves to “make things work”.

Jeremy served in Peace Corps from 2005 to 2008 in rural Guatemala, and is the cofounder of the Orquesta Juvenil de Santa Ana Huista, which is now a nationally recognized orchestra and music school. His original students are now accomplished teachers and administrators of the school, which has celebrated over 15 years in operation and currently includes over 60 students playing wind, string, and percussion instruments. He, along with his students, have performed in various places across Guatemala performing for the President as well as on TV. Some students have even received scholarships and have traveled across Central America performing with different ensembles.

Jeremy holds a B.S. degree in Urban Planning (2005) from Arizona State University and his other artistic love is making miniature scale models of buildings and cities. He lives in Denver with his partner and the occasional Exchange Student. They both enjoy gardening, traveling to obscure places, and the occasional 5k race.