The Camp Staff:
Kushol Gupta, Ph.D., Assistant Director of the Penn Band and Program Director of the Summer Music Camp, has served as an assistant with the Penn Band over the past ten years. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of Pennsylvania to complement his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biochemistry and Pharmacology. Kushol is an avid arranger, as well as a trombonist and tubist. In 2006, he was the lead author of Images of America: The University of Pennsylvania Band (published by Arcadia Publishing), which details the first 100 years of the organization's history. During his tenure with the Band, he has spearheaded the program's high school outreach efforts, including the establishment of three high school honor bands: The Palestra Honor Band, Band Extravaganza Day, and the Southwest Airlines 4th of July High School Honor Band. In 2004, he established the Summer Music Camp.
Steven Birmingham (Trumpet) has a BA in Economics and an MSE in the Management of Technology from UPenn. He has lived in Switzerland and France, and currently resides in Harrisburg, PA where he serves as Information Technology Director at a small regional college. Steven is a former Vice-president of the Penn Band and a member of the Band's honor society, Fanfare. He often teaches college courses and gives seminars on communications, leadership, negotiations, and project management. When not traveling, speaking, or working, Steven can be found in the kitchen, in an online game, or hanging out with friends.
Brian Greenberg (Trumpet) graduated from Penn in 1991, but has yet to successfully leave the Penn Band (not that he's trying). He is a familiar face at Homecoming, Alumni Day, the occasional Penn Basketball game and yes, Band Camp. When he's not finding excuses to break out his trumpet in Philadelphia, he serves as a Director in Bank of America's IT organization. And while he maintains he had nothing to do with all that Wall Street unpleasantness a couple of years ago, it's entirely possible that he knows the PIN number on our ATM card, so we try to leave him alone about it. Like last year, he hopes to combine his technical know-how with his love of the Penn Band to simulate an actual Penn Band halftime show on Franklin Field with the Band Camp campers.
Jeff Porten [Clarinet] graduated from Penn in 1990, and thanks to several incomplete master's degrees, has variously been a member of the classes of 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1995. Thanks to a parental unit who worked at Penn, he's been toddling around campus since roughly 1971, when all of the buildings and students were much taller. He's an itinerant IT consultant and freelance writer, and so far this year has lived in Las Vegas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington DC.
Greer Cheeseman, Director of the Penn Band, has been with the organization for over 35 years, serving as Director for the past decade. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and leads the organization both in practice and philosophy. Greer graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977, but in effect has never left. He was an active member of the band as an undergraduate (Treasurer and Drum Major), became the Assistant Director shortly after graduating, and was elevated to Director in 1994. In his 30+ years of involvement with the Penn Band, he has overseen a program that boasts an average annual membership of 100, and those students perform at upwards of 80 events a year, which includes sporting events and official Penn events.
Adam Sherr, MSEd, Assistant Director of the Penn Band, has been with the organization for over 20 years. Adam has a degree in History & Sociology of Science from Penn in 1990 and, in 2000, completed a MSEd in Higher Education Administration. He is currently working towards his EdD, also in Higher Education Administration with a focus in Leadership Development in undergraduate students. His "day job" is as an Academic Advisor in Penn's School of Nursing and serves as their Director of Student Information and Registration. Adam is an accomplished tubist and is at the forefront of Student Life on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.