Everything Band Podcast
Jared Cassedy is the current band director at Lexington High School in Massachusetts, after teaching in New Hampshire for many years. He was the 2015 recipient of the Grammy Music Educator of the Year award and offers some great perspective for all band directors.
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Steve Danyew is a composer living in Rochester, New York. He has written several very successful for band, including Magnolia Star and Into the Silent Land.
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Frank Troyka was a longtime band director in Richardson, Texas and now serves as an adjunct instructor at SMU, educational consultant for Conn-Selmer, and director of education for System Blue.
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Allan McMurray enjoyed a 35 year career as the Director of Bands at the University of Colorado. Over the course of his remarkable career he has earned numerous honors and awards and is a past president of CBDNA.
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Mark Spede is the band director at Clemson University and the current president of the College Band Directors National Association. In this episode he shares his story and talks about CBDNA’s role in funding the aerosol study at the University of Colorado.
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Michael Giannetta is the band director at Oyster Bay High School on Long Island. He has been a band director for 18 years and joins the show to talk about his program and also the Long Island Wind Ensemble.
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Susan L. Smith has taught general, choral, and instrumental music at the elementary through collegiate level in Florida, Virginia and Alabama and has served as an author, clinician, conductor, and adjudicator across the United States
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Scott Rush is the Director of Fine and Performing Arts in Dorchester School District Two in South Carolina and is the former Director of Bands at Wando High School. He is the lead author of the "Habits" series published by GIA and is an active conductor, adjudicator and clinician.
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Nicholas Williams is an Associate Professor of Music, Music Director and Conductor of the Wind Symphony and Concert Band at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He joins the show to talk about growing up and starting his career in Texas and his recent move to Australia.
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Curtis Gaesser has been the band director at Folsom High School in Sacramento, one of the most successful jazz programs in the country, for the past 37 years.
info_outlineWendy Higdon is the award winning Director of Bands at Creekside Middle School in Carmel, Indiana. Under her baton the Wind Symphony at Creekside has performed at numerous venues, including the Midwest Clinic. Wendy is also the creator and owner of the music education website “On and Off the Podium."
Topics:
- Wendy’s background as a musician and her influences as a teacher.
- Some of the structures and procedures that Wendy uses in her classroom to achieve success and the importance of being yourself.
- Tips for recruitment and retention and a conversation about assessment and using “Band Karate.”
- The organization of the Creekside Middle School band program.
Links:
- Wendy Higdon
- On and Off the Podium
- Musical Mastery
- Essential Musicianship for Band
- Grainger: Irish Tune
Biography:
Wendy Higdon is the Director of Bands and Performing Arts Department Chair at Creekside Middle School in Carmel, Indiana. Under her direction, the Creekside Wind Symphony was honored to perform at The Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in 2013. The Creekside Wind Symphony has also been a featured performing ensemble at the Indiana Music Education Association Conference as well as serving as a rehearsal clinic band at the Midwest Clinic and at the Indiana Music Education Association Conference.
Ms. Higdon has served as an adjudicator, clinician, guest conductor and guest speaker around the country. In 2013, she received the “Fifty Directors Who Make a Difference” Award from School Band and Orchestra Magazine. Her articles have appeared in The Instrumentalist magazine, as well as being published by NAfME, D'Addario Education Collective, Music for All, and SmartMusic, among others. She regularly speaks about important topics in music education at state and regional conferences, and has recently presented sessions at several national conferences including The Midwest Clinic, the National Association of School Music Dealers Conference, and the Australian National Band and Orchestra, where she was a keynote presenter.
Ms. Higdon earned her degree in music education from Ball State University Honors College, graduating summa cum laude. She also holds two Masters degrees from Butler University, one in clarinet performance and the second in education administration. She is a member of Phi Beta Mu International, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, the National Association for Music Education, the Indiana Music Education Association and the Indiana Bandmasters Association.