Faculty

Dr. Jonathan Hinkle

Director of Bands, Associate Professor of Music

Director of Rowdy Brass Band and CMU Wind Symphony

Jonathan Hinkle joined the music faculty at Colorado Mesa University in 2012 as the first director of athletic bands, which included the responsibility of starting and directing the university's first marching band, the Maverick Stampede. In only a few seasons, this group grew to include 155 members and is now also housed in their very own rehearsal facility (turf field, storage/meeting room, and observation tower) know as the Stampede Center. In 2016, he also formed the Rowdy Brass Band, a small 21st Century ensemble performing both on and off campus and for professional engagements. Both groups are now in high demand throughout Colorado. In 2021, Hinkle was reappointed as director of bands, which includes leading CMU's Wind Symphony and overseeing the complete band program. He also teaches courses in music education and applied trumpet, growing enrollment in both of these additional programs. He maintains an active schedule as a band clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States.

Before moving west, he was an active music educator, band director and trumpeter in the Southeastern United States. This experience included five years as a high school band and orchestra director at Sebastian River High School (Sebastian, FL) and Melbourne High School (Melbourne, FL), leading marching bands, concert bands, jazz ensembles and string orchestras to state and national recognition. He returned to the Florida State University College of Music for the Master of Music Education degree earning a University Fellowship for his work starting and directing the first jazz big-band specifically for music education majors, Seminole Swing Machine. Encouraged to continue his graduate work, he later earned the PhD in music education under the mentorship of Dr. Clifford Madsen. At FSU, Hinkle was responsible for teaching and leading various music courses as a graduate student and later as an adjunct faculty. As both an undergraduate and graduate student, he served as principal and lead trumpet with many of the university's top performing ensembles including the Wind Orchestra under the direction of Richard Clary and Jazz Ensemble I, under the direction of Leon Anderson, giving world premiere performances with both groups on national stages. Hinkle's professional performing experience also includes being a lead trumpeter at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, as the principal trumpeter with Orchestra Mia in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a member of the Colorado Mesa University Faculty Jazz Quintet, and in a variety of freelance appointments.

Andrew Bajorek

Associate Director of Bands, Assistant Professor of Music

Director of the Maverick Stampede and Maverick Sound

Andrew Bajorek is the associate director of bands at Colorado Mesa University, where he serves as a director of the Maverick Stampede and Maverick Sound. Additionally, Bajorek instructs courses and mentors students in music teacher education related subjects and activities. Prior to his appointment at Colorado Mesa University, Bajorek earned his doctoral candidacy at the University of Florida and also taught elementary and secondary music in schools in Florida and Pennsylvania.

Bajorek's areas of inquiry include the perceptions of stakeholders of music education as they relate to music education standards, commonalities of strategies employed by master educators, curricular alignment and the best practices of media in the administration of music programs.

Aside from his degrees, Bajorek has earned certifications as a practitioner from the Organization for American Kodály Educators, Feierabend Association for Music Education, and the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. He has previously served as a member of the Florida Music Supervisors Association, a team leader of the Florida Music Education Association Emerging Leaders program, as well as a member of the Florida Department of Education K-12 Teacher Certification Exam (FTCE) Validation Committee.