Matthew Short is a Midlothian High School Alumnus (Class 2010), who has worked with Trojan Marching Band's (TMB) Front Ensemble and Drumline since the 2012 season. A former TMB front ensemble player and drum major, music has been a part of Matt's life since the age of four when he began piano lessons. Matt lives in Northern Virgina with his wife but comes back to Midlothian every marching season to teach and inspire the next generation of TMB percussionists.

Earl E. Shaffer, Jr. is in his 46th year as a music educator in the 2025-26 academic year.  He retired from a 35-year career as a high school band director in June 2015 and has been serving as music professor at Longwood University ever since.   An Arlington, Virginia native, he graduated from James Madison University in 1980 with a Bachelors of Music in Education degree.  An avid lifelong learner, Mr. Shaffer earned a Masters of Music in Music Education degree from the South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University in May 2018, just days prior to his 61st birthday.   

 He was the director of the Covington (Va.) High School Band for nine years prior to moving to Chesterfield County in August 1989 where he began a seventeen-year tenure as the director of bands at Lloyd C. Bird High School in Chesterfield County. He was appointed to develop the band program when the new Cosby High School opened in 2006.

Mr. Shaffer’s bands earned SUPERIOR ratings for 26 consecutive years at VBODA concert festivals beginning in 1990 and continuing to 2015 making this one of the longest streaks of its kind in the history of the Commonwealth.  Mr. Shaffer’s bands have also earned Commonwealth of Virginia Honor Band titles 17 times as well during his career.   Mr. Shaffer is a class of 2011 inductee in the High School Band Directors National Association (HSBDNA) Hall of Fame in Columbus Georgia and a recipient of the John Long Award for National Excellence in Music Education. He was inducted into the Virginia Band and Orchestra Association (VBODA) Hall of Fame in November, 2022.

In retirement, Mr. Shaffer is currently serving as a professor in the department of music at Longwood University where his responsibilities have included conducting the LU Wind Symphony and directing “Stampede”, the LU basketball pep band.  Currently he teaches music education classes and supervises music student teachers.  

Mr. Shaffer is an active adjudicator and clinician for scholastic marching and concert band rehearsals and festivals in the mid-Atlantic region.   He is a regular guest conductor of area and district honor bands as well. 

 Mr. Shaffer was named the conductor of the Richmond Pops in April 2022 that performs in front of thousands of patrons at the historic Altria Theater.  He was one of the conductors of the Virginia Ambassadors of Music Summer 2016 and 2018 two-week European Concert Tour.   He is also the Associate Conductor of the Greater Richmond Youth Wind Ensemble (GRYWE) which is an auditioned Richmond-area honor band that rehearses weekly in the spring at Virginia Commonwealth University.   

 Away from teaching, Mr. Shaffer is an avid N-Scale and O-Gauge model railroad operator and collector, a pilot of radio-controlled aircraft, is a clarinet and saxophone performer who currently performs with the Commonwealth Winds of Richmond Virginia, the Richmond Clarinet Choir, the Reflections Big Band and is an avid distance bicyclist. Most importantly, he is the proud grandfather of three all born in 2023, one in April, one in May and one in July.

Steven P. Conley earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Instrumental Music Education from the University of Maryland and pursued additional studies at the University of Richmond, West Chester University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Appalachian State University, and Radford University. He devoted thirty-four years to directing and teaching high school instrumental music in the Commonwealth of Virginia, retiring in 2017.

On New Year’s Day 1998, Mr. Conley adjudicated international bands at the Paris Parade and Music Festivals in France. He has guest conducted the 392nd Army Band at Fort Gregg-Adams, the U.S. Fleet Forces Band in Norfolk, and numerous honor bands throughout Virginia. He has also judged marching bands at field show

competitions and parades throughout Virginia and North Carolina, and continues to adjudicate high school bands at VBODA District Concert Band Assessments and State Marching Band Assessments.

Mr. Conley spent thirty-one years at Clover Hill High School, where he directed the marching band, two concert bands, jazz band, and percussion ensemble. Under his leadership, the Clover Hill High School Band performed across the United States and abroad, including appearances in Toronto, The Bahamas (four times), Paris, London (twice), Disney World (six times), the Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Parade (2006, 2014), the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, the New York City Veterans Day Parade (2009), Pit Road at the Daytona 500 (2013), and the 75th Anniversary Mass Band Event at Pearl Harbor (2016). The program was named a Virginia Honor Band by the VBODA twelve times and earned commendations from both the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors and the Virginia General Assembly.

Governor George Allen praised the program, stating, “The outstanding musical ability and dedication of this band have brought them a richly earned international reputation for excellence.”

Currently, Mr. Conley serves as a Group Travel Specialist with ETI Worldwide Vacations, specializing in student performance tours. He has performed on trumpet with the Commonwealth Winds and the Richmond Concert Band, recorded with the Richmond Swing Orchestra, and currently plays with the Richmond Pops Band and the Old Dominion Brass Quintet. An avid scuba diver and life member of the National Speleological Society, he and his wife, Shirley, reside in Midlothian, Virginia.