Dear Future All-Stars,
Sharing music with an appreciative audience is exciting. Sharing music in historic places, however, collaborating with outstanding young musicians from all over our state, under the direction of esteemed conductors for audiences from around the world is incomparable. Our Illinois All-Stars leadership team and Guardian Travel invite you to join our extraordinary band, choir or orchestra. Use the links below to learn how you can become an All-Star of Music in 2026!
Mark Corey
Illinois Executive Director
Dear Future All-Stars,
Sharing music with an appreciative audience is exciting. Sharing music in historic places, however, collaborating with outstanding young musicians from all over our state, under the direction of esteemed conductors for audiences from around the world is incomparable. Our Illinois All-Stars leadership team
and Guardian Travel invite you to join our extraordinary band, choir or orchestra.
Mark Corey
Illinois Executive Director
Illinois Sr.
All-Stars of Music
-YOUR ALL-STAR JOURNEY BEGINS HERE-
Illinois Sr. All-Stars of Music
Perform. Explore. Connect.
Join fellow student musicians from Illinois for an unforgettable music and travel experience.
Mike Mascari
Orchestra Conductor
A National Board Certified Educator, Michael Mascari has served as the Director of Orchestras at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in the City of Chicago since 2006. He is honored to have been selected as the 2019 state of Illinois nominee for the National Federation of High Schools Music Educator of the Year.
Mascari’s Whitney M. Young Chamber Orchestra has achieved international acclaim with performances in 2018 at the prestigious Midwest Clinic, International Band and Orchestra Conference (the first invitation for a Chicago Public School orchestra), in 2016 at Carnegie Hall, New York, and, more locally, at the 2012 Illinois Music Educators’ Association All-State Conference.
In addition to his work with Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Mr. Mascari is also in his seventh season as a member of the artistic staff for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras where he serves as the conductor of the Concert Orchestra.
Michael Mascari holds a Master of Arts degree in Music Education from Eastern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
On a Sunday morning, Michael can be found at Church of Our Saviour in Lincoln Park where he serves as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. He is the proud father of Leith, a violinist (studying physics at the University of Illinois), and Ariana (now a senior at Manhattan School of Music in Viola Performance).
Robert Sinclair
Choir Conductor
Dr. Robert L. Sinclair has served VanderCook College of Music as Director of Choral Activities since 2001 and as Dean of Graduate Studies since 2016. His educational background includes three years at Luther College where he sang in the Nordic Choir under the direction of Weston Noble. After transferring to Sam Houston State University, he completed his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees with B. R. Henson. In December of 2000, Sinclair completed a Ph. D. in Curriculum and Instruction (Music Education) at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he worked with Drs. David Rayl and Wendy Sims.
Dr. Sinclair has ten years of public-school teaching experience and continues to work as an active choral clinician and adjudicator for junior high and high school students from across the nation and abroad including honor choirs in Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, and Japan as well as all-state choirs in Illinois and Wisconsin. Sinclair has presented sessions to the Music Educators Associations of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, and Texas, the Hawai’i and Illinois Chapters of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), as well as the Southwestern and Southern Divisions of ACDA. In May of 2022, he made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut.
He is an active member of ACDA, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Kappa Lambda, and the National Association for Music Education. He has served ACDA as president of Missouri’s Central District (1992), student assistant coordinator for National, Regional, and State conferences, Central Region Youth & Student Activities Chair (2010-2013), Program Chair for Central Division Conference (Chicago, 2006), and currently serves on the National Standing Committee for Education and Communication.
Anthony Marinello
Band Conductor
Dr. Anthony C. Marinello, III serves as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Illinois State University where he is the conductor and music director of the Illinois State University Wind Symphony. In addition to overseeing all aspects of the Illinois State University band program, he leads the graduate program in wind conducting and teaches undergraduate courses in instrumental conducting.
As conductor of the Illinois State University Wind Symphony, Dr. Marinello has collaborated with numerous esteemed colleagues and composers including William Bolcom, Omar Thomas, Steven Bryant, Donald Grantham, and Chen Yi. He is also active in the commissioning and performing new works for wind band.
Under his leadership, the Illinois State University Wind Symphony has been invited to perform at the 2022 College Band Directors National Association North Central Regional Conference at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, twice at the Illinois Music Education Conference in Peoria, and for numerous band programs and festivals throughout Illinois.
He previously held faculty positions at The University of Texas at Austin and Virginia Tech. Marinello has previously taught in the public schools of Louisiana, Ohio, and Texas and remains committed to serving the music education community as an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator.
Dr. Marinello has been inducted into Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity. At Illinois State University, he has received numerous awards including the Illinois State University Service Initiative Award, the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts (WKCFA) Teaching Initiative Award, the WKCFA Service Initiative Award, the WKCFA Research Initiative Award, and the Illinois State University New Faculty Start-up Award.
Marinello earned the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Louisiana State University, the Master of Music Degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from The University of Texas at Austin.
Anthony Marinello
Band Conductor
Robert Sinclair
Choir Conductor
Mike Mascari
Orchestra Conductor
Mike Mascari
Orchestra Conductor
A National Board Certified Educator, Michael Mascari has served as the Director of Orchestras at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in the City of Chicago since 2006. He is honored to have been selected as the 2019 state of Illinois nominee for the National Federation of High Schools Music Educator of the Year. Mascari’s Whitney M. Young Chamber Orchestra has achieved international acclaim with performances in 2018 at the prestigious Midwest Clinic, International Band and Orchestra Conference (the first invitation for a Chicago Public School orchestra), in 2016 at Carnegie Hall, New York, and, more locally, at the 2012 Illinois Music Educators’ Association All-State Conference. In addition to his work with Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Mr. Mascari is also in his seventh season as a member of the artistic staff for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras where he serves as the conductor of the Concert Orchestra. Michael Mascari holds a Master of Arts degree in Music Education from Eastern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On a Sunday morning, Michael can be found at Church of Our Saviour in Lincoln Park where he serves as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. He is the proud father of Leith, a violinist (studying physics at the University of Illinois), and Ariana (now a senior at Manhattan School of Music in Viola Performance).
Robert Sinclair
Choir Conductor
Robert L. Sinclair has served VanderCook College of Music as Director of Choral Activities since 2001 and as Dean of Graduate Studies since 2016. His educational background includes three years at Luther College where he sang in the Nordic Choir under the direction of Weston Noble. After transferring to Sam Houston State University, he completed his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees with B. R. Henson. In December of 2000, Sinclair completed a Ph. D. in Curriculum and Instruction (Music Education) at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he worked with Drs. David Rayl and Wendy Sims. Dr. Sinclair has ten years of public-school teaching experience and continues to work as an active choral clinician and adjudicator for junior high and high school students from across the nation and abroad including honor choirs in Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, and Japan as well as all-state choirs in Illinois and Wisconsin. Sinclair has presented sessions to the Music Educators Associations of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, and Texas, the Hawai’i and Illinois Chapters of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), as well as the Southwestern and Southern Divisions of ACDA. In May of 2022, he made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut. He is an active member of ACDA, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Kappa Lambda, and the National Association for Music Education. He has served ACDA as president of Missouri’s Central District (1992), student assistant coordinator for National, Regional, and State conferences, Central Region Youth & Student Activities Chair (2010-2013), Program Chair for Central Division Conference (Chicago, 2006), and currently serves on the National Standing Committee for Education and Communication.
Anthony Marinello
Band Conductor
Dr. Anthony C. Marinello, III serves as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Illinois State University where he is the conductor and music director of the Illinois State University Wind Symphony. In addition to overseeing all aspects of the Illinois State University band program, he leads the graduate program in wind conducting and teaches undergraduate courses in instrumental conducting. As conductor of the Illinois State University Wind Symphony, Dr. Marinello has collaborated with numerous esteemed colleagues and composers including William Bolcom, Omar Thomas, Steven Bryant, Donald Grantham, and Chen Yi. He is also active in the commissioning and performing new works for wind band. Under his leadership, the Illinois State University Wind Symphony has been invited to perform at the 2022 College Band Directors National Association North Central Regional Conference at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, twice at the Illinois Music Education Conference in Peoria, and for numerous band programs and festivals throughout Illinois. He previously held faculty positions at The University of Texas at Austin and Virginia Tech. Marinello has previously taught in the public schools of Louisiana, Ohio, and Texas and remains committed to serving the music education community as an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. Dr. Marinello has been inducted into Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity. At Illinois State University, he has received numerous awards including the Illinois State University Service Initiative Award, the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts (WKCFA) Teaching Initiative Award, the WKCFA Service Initiative Award, the WKCFA Research Initiative Award, and the Illinois State University New Faculty Start-up Award. Marinello earned the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Louisiana State University, the Master of Music Degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from The University of Texas at Austin.
Meet Your All-Star Conductors
Our ASOM staff prides itself on the conductors hired to work with the finest young musicians in your area. Collegiate conductors from the State of Illinois will be working with our All-Stars students. We are excited to announce our 2026 conductors!
Meeting Info
Stay tuned! Meeting info coming soon!