2026 Honors Band

Hunter Kopczynski serves as Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of music at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he conducts the UNC Charlotte Wind Ensemble and teaches courses in conducting and music education.

Dr. Kopczynski comes to Charlotte after holding similar positions at Mars Hill University and in the public schools of Virginia. At MHU, he coordinated the band program, conducted the wind symphony, and taught courses in the Department of Music. Additionally, he served as conductor of the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra. Before his time in Asheville, Dr. Kopczynski completed his graduate degrees at Michigan State University, where he held instructional and musical responsibilities with each of the concert and athletic bands and served the Graduate School as a Leadership Fellow. Prior to graduate study, he taught middle and high school music in Virginia. There he successfully led high school and middle school bands in the Roanoke County Schools and most recently for six years in the Williamsburg-James City County Schools.

Kopczynski earned the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in Wind Conducting from Michigan State University. He also completed a Master of Arts in Education and a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in Music from Virginia Tech. His principal conducting teachers were Kevin L. Sedatole and Travis J. Cross.  

He is an advocate for the expansion, development, and diversification of the wind repertoire and a supporter of music education in the schools. In his research and teaching, Dr. Kopczynski is especially interested in the intersection of experience and curriculum to influence ensemble culture. He is an active adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor, and has presented at state and regional music education conferences. His professional affiliations include the College Band Directors National Association and the National Association for Music Education.

Leah Pfeiffer serves as the Director of Bands at Harris Road Middle School in Concord, North
Carolina, where she leads a thriving program of over 350 students. Under her direction, the
school's concert bands have consistently earned superior ratings at local, district, and regionalmusic festivals.

A dedicated music educator in her 15th year of public school teaching, Mrs. Pfeiffer’s 6th, 7th,
and 8th-grade ensembles have achieved an impressive streak of 20 consecutive superior ratings
at the NC Music Performance Adjudications (MPA) since 2015. Her 8th-grade band was selected
to perform Grade III and IV literature at the NCMEA Convention in 2023.

Mrs. Pfeiffer’s commitment to excellence has earned her numerous accolades, including being
named the 2017–2018 Teacher of the Year and receiving the prestigious ASBDA Edgar Q.
Rooker Encore Award in 2018. A National Board-Certified Teacher, she holds a Bachelor of
Science in Music Education from Elon University.

Active in leadership and professional advocacy, Mrs. Pfeiffer co-founded the North Carolina
chapter of the Women Band Directors International, serving as its Vice President. She is also the
middle school MPA representative for the South-Central District Bandmasters Association and
maintains professional affiliations with NAfME and NCMEA.

Austin is a music educator, adjudicator, clinician, consultant, and arranger in the greater Charlotte area with a passion for providing students with the tools to excel in the performing arts.

Austin is the Ensemble and Staff Coordinator at Paradigm Percussion, Carolina's premier WGI Percussion Independent Open Class ensemble, and has been with the ensemble since 2018. Austin led the group to a WGI Bronze Medal in 2019 in PIA, guided them to becoming a perennial finalist in PIO, and won Back-to-Back-to-Back Fan Favorite Awards (2024-2026) at WGI Finals in Dayton, Ohio.

Outside of the performing arts, Austin is a financial coach focusing on financial education and long-term equity investment strategies and CEO/Co-Founder of Cloud Music Suite LLC.

In his free time, he enjoys playing drumset, spending time outdoors, watching the NBA, and spending time with his family: Kendell, his two cats, Millie and Luna, his dog, Penny.