Motohichi Harada led the movement that brought the very first marching band to Japan, which took place in 1963. He has since worked for the NHK for over thirty years and formed the Japan...
Jason Brown is the Director of Fine Arts for District 219, Niles Township in Cook County, Illinois. A trumpet player, he graduated from the same high school as Miles Davis, and was later ...
Kevin Cottrill is the Director of Bands at Seymour Community Schools and the Band Director at Seymour High School in Seymour, Indiana. He received his education at Jacobs School of Music ...
William Thomas is a recent retiree who served as first the head Band Director at Lakota East High School outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. He gives insights on the challenges and rewards of be...
David Cole is the Director of Bands at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Indiana and is a graduate of Indiana State University. Here, he speaks about having a relationship with the a...
David Eccles is the Director of String Music Education at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois. He speaks here about the first steps for any new teacher and how to keep music ...
Ryan Arp is the Associate Band Director at Iowa City High School in Iowa City, Iowa. He gives insights on networking and recruiting the help of fellow music education colleagues from the ...
Cheryl Filipek is the Band Director at Niles North High School. She speaks here about how to connect to students and how to create interest in music to recruit and retain for her program....
Greg Snyder has been the Director of Bands at Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio for 25 years. He talks here about some challenges that come with leading a music program and ho...
Ray Ostwald Originally from Wisconsin, Mr. Ostwald has taught orchestra in Illinois for twenty years and has been at York Community High School in Elmhurst for the past sixteen. He comes ...
Andrew Vickers teaches middle school instrumental music in DeWitt, Iowa. Classes under his instruction range from concert band, jazz band, and even guitar classes, as well as private less...
Toshio Akiyama is an internationally renowned figure widely known for his contribution as the "father of the Japanese wind bands." Having received his education at the famous Eastman Scho...
Frank Lestina has taught for eleven years at Vernon Hills High School in Vernon Hills, Illinois. He speaks here about attracting and retaining students and about the importance of visibil...
Charles Staley is the Fine Arts Chair at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Illinois. He speaks about growing as an educator and the importance of placing students first to provide ...
John Espy teaches at Milford Exempted Village Schools in Milford, Ohio, where he teaches music at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Here, he speaks about transitions into mi...
Jeff Heid is the Head Band Director at Muscatine High School in Muscatine, Iowa. He speaks here about rebuilding a program, that was once numbering in the two-hundreds, by focusing on ret...
Barbara Siler is the Assistant Director of Bands at Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Schools, a small but growing school system. She teaches grades six through twelve. At the beginning of her career,...
Chip DeStefano has served as the Director of Bands at McCracken Middle School for fifteen years now. Under his direction, the McCracken Middle School Symphonic Band has received first div...
Dorothy Jacobi is the Instrumental Music Educator in the Solon Community School District. She is in her 15th year of teaching, and has taught everything from general music, instrumental m...
Alyce Spoto is the Beginning Band Director in Muscatine, Iowa, where she assists 4th graders in choosing their instruments and teaches 5th graders in the development of their technique. S...
Anthony Camarda received his education at DePaul University and is the band teacher at Marlowe Middle School in Lake in the Hills, IL. His experience ranges across a number of different t...
Phillip Hash is the Associate Professor and Coordinator of Undergraduate Music Education at the School of Music - Illinois State University. He holds an Ed. D. in music education from the...
Herman Knoll has had a breadth of experience over the years teaching instrumental music at the primary, secondary, and collegiate levels. After his tenure at Indiana State University, he ...
Marguerite Wilder was a band director for 25 years and now works in publishing as an editor and clinician. Over her time as an educator, she taught at a variety of levels, ranging from pr...
Bryan Itzkowitz is the Director of Bands at Holmes Middle School in Wheeling, Illinois. He became interested in becoming a music educator in eighth grade when his band director gave him t...
Lisa Lang is the 5th and 6th Grade Band Director and Assistant High School Band Director in Independence, Iowa. Ms. Lang has taught for 25 years in both Iowa and Delaware and received her...
Todd Smith is the Band Director at River Trails Middle School in Mount Prospect, Illinois. He began teaching 17 years ago in River Grove, Illinois and moved to RTMS 12 years ago to his cu...
Jim DePriest has been teaching for 28 years, He has taught students at Stuart-Menlo Community Schools, West Burlington Independent Schools, Notre Dame Catholic Schools, and Mt. Pleasant C...
Nancy Golden teaches band in four of the seven elementary schools in the Hinsdale District 181. She discusses various methods of recruiting new students for the band, such as showing recr...
Beth Lyons is the 5th through 8th Grade Band Director at five different elementary schools and one middle school in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She has taught several elements of music, ranging f...
Glen Schneider teaches band, technique, and percussion classes at Metea Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois. He received his education at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvani...
Dr. Richard Brittain was invited to a small gathering of music educators in the months following World War II. The original goal of the meeting was to provide a venue for the music educat...
