A native of Lee's Summit, Missouri, Dr. Belser began his musical training on
trumpet then on euphonium as a student Keith House. He earned the Bachelor of
Music Education degree from Central Missouri State University studying with
Russell Coleman and Robert Gifford. Following his undergraduate studies, he
taught instrumental and choral music in Central Missouri. Dr. Belser served as a
graduate teaching assistant at the University of Illinois where he studied with
Harry Begian, Gary Smith, and Dan Perantoni, and earned the Master of Science in
Music Education degree. He was Assistant Director of Bands at Eastern Kentucky
University directing the concert band, athletic bands, and teaching music
appreciation. Dr. Belser was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting
from The University of Iowa where he was a student of Myron Welch. He has also
studied conducting with Craig Kirchhoff, John Paynter, and Mallory Thompson.
Dr. Belser was honored as a recipient of the prestigious John P. "Jack" Ellbogen Award for Meritorious Classroom teaching in 2000, and has served as a teaching excellence panelist for the UW Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Belser is quite active as a clinician and conductor throughout the country, and as an adjudicator for bands in the West and the Midwest. Under his baton, the UW Wind Ensemble performed for the Western/Northwestern Division conference of College Band Directors National Association receiving acclaim for their sensitivity and musicality in performance. He is a proponent of new music and the process of creativity, and is not only in demand as a conductor but as a clinician for his promotion of positive teaching techniques and advocacy for the arts.
In addition to conducting, Dr. Belser also teaches music education and graduate conducting and literature courses. His research interests include the process of creativity, historic and new wind repertory, and the arts in the process of learning.
