Captain Shanti C Simon Captain Shanti C. Simon is the Flight Commander for the United States Air Force Academy Band. Prior to her arrival, she was the officer in charge of the Air Force Strings, Airmen of Note and Max Impact with The United States Air Force Band, Washington, D.C. Capt. Simon was commissioned in October 2011 from Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. She has conducted performances with The USAF Band in the national capital region and around the country including the 2011 National Tree Lighting Ceremony with the Airmen of Note hosted by President Obama and the First Family. Before joining the Air Force, Capt. Simon earned her MM and DMA degrees from the University of Minnesota where she studied with Craig Kirchhoff. She received her BME and BM degrees from Stetson University in Florida with Bobby Adams. She also served as the Associate Director of Bands at Vero Beach High School in Florida for four years. In the summer of 2009, Capt. Simon was invited by the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation and Herrenhaus Edenkoben to participate in the International Master Course and Workshop for Conductors and Composers with professors Peter Eötvös and Zsolt Nagy in Edenkoben, Germany. In 2010, she spent a month in Paris at the European American Musical Alliance summer music program studying conducting with Mark Shapiro. EDUCATION 2002 Bachelor of Music Education, Stetson University, FL 2002 Bachelor of Music - Trumpet Performance, Stetson University, FL. 2008 Master of Music - Wind Band Conducting, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 2011 Doctor of Musical Arts - Conducting, University of Minnesota, MN. 2011 Officer Training School, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS National Defense Service Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION Second Lieutenant - 25 October 2011 First Lieutenant - 25 October 2013 Captain - 25 October 2015 send an email to Capt. Shanti Simon