​Arizona Wind Symphony
Tempe, AZ
Guest Artists
2025-2026
Joshua and Stefanie Gardner
clarinet
Dr. Joshua Gardner is an acclaimed clarinetist and pedagogue, currently serving as Associate Professor of Clarinet and the director of the Performance Physiology Research Laboratory at Arizona State University. His innovative research in intra-oral performance mechanics has led to numerous improvements to single-reed performance pedagogy, while his commitment to contemporary music by living composers with ensembles Égide Duo and Paradise Winds has brought his performances to stages around the world. Dr. Gardner received bachelor’s degrees from the University of Kentucky and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University. Gardner is a Silverstein Pro Team Artist and Henri Selmer Paris/Conn-Selmer Performing Artist.
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Dr. Stefanie Gardner is music program director at Glendale Community College (AZ) and actively performs with Arizona Musicfest Pops Orchestra, Arizona Opera, Phoenix Chamber Music Society, Phoenix Symphony, Paradise Winds, and Égide Duo. Stefanie was named Top 30 Professionals by Musical America in 2023 and is a 2025 GRAMMY Music Educator quarter finalist. She has performed in concert with Jason Alexander, Andrea Bocelli, PitBull, Ceelo, Tony Orlando, Reba McEntire, Michael Bolton, David and Katherine McPhee Foster, Jordin Sparks, Weird Al Yankovic, Hanson, and The Who. Her albums can be heard on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. She is an artist for Henri Selmer Paris/Conn-Selmer, Gleichweit Mouthpieces, and Silverstein Works. In her spare time, she serves on the International Clarinet Association (ICA) New Music Committee, chairs the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access Committee, and has served as the Artistic Director of the 2023 and 2025 Low Clarinet Festivals.
Joe Burgstaller
trumpet
Called “a superstar of the trumpet” by conductor JoAnn Falletta,
Joe Burgstaller is a long-time trumpeter and arranger with the famed Canadian Brass, and with that group has performed thousands of concerts across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, made countless television and radio appearances, performed in front of more than 50 orchestras, and has recorded 13+ CDs, multiple Top-Ten Billboard Hits and received two Juno nominations.
Now Professor of Trumpet at Arizona State University (ASU), Joe also spent years as an international soloist (USA, Canada, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, et al.), and a clinician, including his Change Your Mind, Change Your Playing® seminars. Prior to ASU, he was for 11 years at The Peabody Institute, having been named in 2008 a Distinguished Visiting Artist, an honor also given to Midori and Marin Alsop.
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Joe’s discography includes hit classical solo CDs, and his crossover CDs which were Top-50 on the Jazz Radio charts and the Roots Radio Report (under Paul Simon but right above the Beastie Boys). His License To Thrill was the subject of The INNERView (~100 million viewers across Pan-Asia) on Korea’s Arirang Television, as well as an hour-long feature on Sirius-XM Classical Radio.
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His formidable online presence includes the world’s most viewed version of La Virgen de la Macarena (4.2 million YouTube views) and his popular Trumpet Warmup Show, livestreamed weekly on Facebook with upwards of 25,000 viewers in 30+ countries. The Show highlights Joe’s pedagogy and his students’ own informative segments.
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Prior to joining the Canadian Brass, Joe was a full-time soloist with Columbia Artists, performing 60 solo concerts every season with his Rafael Méndez Project, and was a member of the acclaimed modern music group Meridian Arts Ensemble.
Cathal Breslin
piano
Dr. Cathal Breslin has been praised worldwide as one of the most exciting pianists of his generation, with critical acclaim including “superb intensity and passion” (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio), “energized and energizing” (Belfast Telegraph, Northern Ireland), “a deep connection to the music” (Tampa Oracle, Florida), and “noble poetry and perfumed pianissimo” (The Independent, London). Born in Derry, Northern Ireland, he has performed solo recitals in major concert halls across Europe, the U.S., and Asia, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
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Recent solo concerto performances have featured works by Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Beethoven, Mozart, Takemitsu, Poulenc, and Liszt with orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, BBC Ulster Orchestra, Greensboro Symphony, Jackson Symphony, Turin Philharmonic, Memphis Symphony, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Arizona MusicFest Orchestra, among others.
Dr. Breslin has performed extensively in duo recitals with flutist Sir James Galway, soprano Measha Brueggergosman, violinists Augustin Dumay, Anne Akiko Meyers, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Kirill Troussov, Kristine Balanas; cellists Jan Vogler, Jeffrey Zeigler, Raphael Wallfisch; pianists Awadagin Pratt and Barry Douglas; and in chamber music settings with the Houston Symphony Winds and the Brodsky and Coull Quartets. He is also a regular member of Trio Festivale, a flute-cello-piano ensemble that tours internationally and commissions new works.
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In 2008, Dr. Breslin and his wife, flutist Dr. Sabrina Hu, co-founded the Walled City Music Festival in Derry, Northern Ireland, which has revitalized the region’s cultural landscape through innovative concerts and impactful community engagement. Walled City Music has grown into one of the most successful arts organizations and festivals in Europe, hosting artists such as the Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ulster Orchestra, and pianists including the Labèque Sisters, Awadagin Pratt, Barry Douglas, and Jeremy Denk. In 2019, they launched the annual WCM International Academy, which has since attracted hundreds of students from over 20 countries.
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Dr. Breslin moved to the U.S. as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Michigan, where he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree studying with Arthur Greene. His earlier studies were at the Real Conservatorio Superior in Madrid with Joaquín Soriano; the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Kathryn Stott, Benjamin Frith, and Alexander Melnikov; and the Royal College of Music in London with John Barstow.
He is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, where his students have won numerous prizes in both national and international piano competitions. In 2019, he founded the Arizona Chapter of the American Liszt Society and currently serves as its president.
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In 2020, Dr. Breslin signed as an exclusive Yamaha Artist and released a new album titled Mirage—a collection of Romantic piano works by Chopin, Brahms, de Falla, and Rachmaninov that evoke musical illusions of landscapes and fantasies, reflecting light and color.
Patrick Sheridan
tuba
Patrick Sheridan is one of history’s most celebrated tuba soloists. He has performed over 3,500 concerts in 50+ countries, from the White House to the Hollywood Bowl. A former member of "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band, he has been featured on NBC’s Today Show and NPR’s All Things Considered.
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Beyond performing, Patrick is deeply committed to education. His students hold principal positions in major orchestras and military bands across 30+ countries and serve on over 200 university faculties. He has taught at Arizona State, NAU, UCLA, the Rotterdam Conservatory, the Royal Northern College of Music, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Co-author of The Breathing Gym®, the best-selling method for instrumental improvement, he has presented clinics to over a million students worldwide. The method won a 2009 Regional Emmy® for Instructional Video Production.
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With 30+ years in music design, Patrick’s influence extends to instruments played by professionals and students globally. He serves as Chief Design Consultant for Jupiter Band Instruments, Hercules Stands, and Laskey Mouthpieces. A frequent guest conductor nationwide, Patrick works with university, all-state, and honor bands. A board member of WIBC University and member of ASCAP, he was honored by the American Bandmasters Association with the 2024 Edwin Franko Goldman Memorial Citation for his service to concert bands and concert band music in America.
Robert Heiligenberg
flute
Robert Heiligenberg is a classically trained flutist whose distinguished career has included performances on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. A native New Yorker, he began his flute studies at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division with Brad Garner and later earned his Bachelor of Music from Juilliard as a scholarship student under Carol Wincenc and Jeanne Baxtresser.
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Robert was a winner of the ISO Concerto Competition and performed as soloist in Alice Tully Hall. He also performed Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp with Jessica Zhou, now principal harpist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His appearances include Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Symphony Space, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
He has performed in masterclasses with Jean-Pierre Rampal, Aurèle Nicolet, Peter-Lukas Graf, and Alain Marion, and collaborated with renowned conductors including Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, Alan Gilbert, Carl St. Clair, and Miguel Harth-Bedoya. He held principal flute positions with the Jerusalem International Symphony Orchestra, New York Youth Symphony, and International Pride Orchestra.
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Robert’s summer training included fellowships at Tanglewood, Aspen, Sarasota, and Salzburg’s Mozarteum. He is a prizewinner of the Friday Woodmere Competition, New York Flute Club Competition, Cincinnati Flute Symposium, and Rice University Concerto Competition, where he earned his Master of Music degree with Leone Buyse.
Diagnosed during graduate school with focal dystonia — a neurological condition impairing fine motor control — Robert was forced to step away from performance. After a 20-year hiatus, he returned to the flute during the pandemic, adapting his technique and embracing music with renewed purpose.
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He also holds a Master’s in Music Business from NYU and worked in arts leadership before earning a Master of Science in Nursing from UCLA. He now serves as a psychiatric registered nurse at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix and is completing his board certification as a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
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Today, Robert is principal flute of the Scottsdale Symphony and a member of the Desert Echoes Flute Project. His return to the concert stage is both a celebration of his musical roots and a powerful testament to resilience and reinvention.