Greg Orwoll
Executive Director, Colts Youth Organization
Director, Colts Drum & Bugle Corps

E-mail Greg

Education: Decorah High School, Decorah, IA 1976; Luther College, Decorah, IA 1980.  BA in Business Management and Psychology, with extensive music study

Professional: Orwoll is the Executive Director of the Colts Youth Organization, and serves on the Drum Corps International (DCI) Board of Directors where he serves as Treasurer of organization.

Orwoll is responsible for the operations of the Colts Youth Organization, which includes the World Class Colts, the Open Class Colt Cadets, and the Colts Summer Band. Programs also include PanrhythmiX and Pandemonium steel drum ensembles, and Vocal Fusion, all based at Prescott Elementary School. Over 340 young people, grade 3 through age 21, are now members of a Colts program.

He was elected to the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame in 2008, and was voted Director of the Year in Drum Corps Midwest twice, and DCI Central Division once.
He served 14 years as chair of Drum Corps Midwest, the precursor to the DCI Central Division.

He has presented numerous clinics for the Iowa Bandmasters' Association and has twice been a grant review panelist for the Iowa Arts Council Cultural Affairs Commission and serves on the Executive Board for the Iowa Alliance of Arts Educators (IAAE).
 
Community: Orwoll has served as chair of the Festivals Committee for the Dubuque Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and the Rotary Club of Dubuque and is a past president of the Dubuque Evening Optimists. He is a member of the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Fund Raising Professionals and the Iowa Bandmasters Association. 

Performance Experience:  Luther College Concert Band and Nordic Choir, and since age 8 a member of: Decorah (IA) Kilties (1967-73); Osage (IA) Precision-Aires (1974-76); and The Cavaliers (1979).

Teaching Experience: Visual staff for the U.S. Army All American Marching Band at the U.S. Army All American Bowl in San Antonio, January 2011, and since 1975, instructor, consultant or visual designer for scores of high school marching bands.

Director and music arranger for the Decorah Kilties 1973-80; visual coordinator and tour manager for the Rivermen, Stillwater, MN 1981-82; Colts visual staff 1983 and visual staff and tour management in 1984. Director of the Colts since the fall of 1984.

Judging Experience:  Since 1978, Orwoll has judged marching band shows in 14 states including Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, New York, New Jersey and Oklahoma. 

Adjudication highlights include the Michigan State Championships; the USSBA finals in Giants Stadium; the Arizona State University Sun Devil Invitational; the University of Kansas Championships, the University of Missouri Invitational, Indiana District Championships, the Kentucky State Music Educators Association Finals, and the Youth In Music Championships in Minneapolis at the Metrodome.

Return to Colts Staff page.