After Hours: Conversations for Music Educators

This week Nick Averwater talks with John Mlynczak , Vice President of Music Education and Technology at Hal Leonard .  They'll be talking about how John's years as a middle school music teacher have influenced the work he does today, and how the lessons learned in the last 18 months have created some great opportunities for music educators. The conversation was recorded November 23, 2021...

In this episode of the After Hours Director Spotlight, Nick Averwater talks with Dr. Charles Page, Band Director at Valley View High School in northeastern Arkansas. Prior to his current position he was Band Director in the Buffalo Island School District , which is a much smaller district in the same part of the state.  In this conversation, Dr. Page talks about the musical challenges associated w...

This week Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Bob Morrison, CEO and Founder of Quadrant Research , the nation's leading arts education research and market intelligence organization. Bob is also a member of his regional school board in New Jersey. In this episode they'll be talking about the role of music and the arts in social emotional learning. Bob will also share his though...

This week Nick Averwater talks with Bob Morrison , CEO and Founder of Quadrant Research , the nation's leading arts education research and market intelligence organization. In this episode they'll be talking about the Arts Education Data Project , which provides a data-driven approach to understanding the condition of arts education in the United States. You can learn more about it at ar...

In this episode, Nick Averwater talks with Sharon Bryant, Senior Project Manager for NAMM . They'll be talking about NAMM's Best Communities for Music Education Survey, which celebrates the best music education programs in the country. Applications are being accepted through the end of January 2022, and you can learn more about it at nammfoundation.org/bcme .

In this episode of the After Hours Director Spotlight, Nick Averwater continues his conversation about student leadership with Dr. Craig Aarhus , Associate Director of Bands at Mississippi State University in Starkville. This conversation was recorded September 28th, 2021, and is broken up in to two episodes, and this is part two. In this conversation Dr. Aarhus mentions the book, The System by Ga...

In this episode of the After Hours Director Spotlight, Nick Averwater talks with Dr. Craig Aarhus , Associate Director of Bands at Mississippi State University . Identifying and empowering student leaders has been a big part of the band program's success, and we'll learn more about that, as well as find out more about some of Dr. Aarhus' early influences as a band director. Our conv...

This week Nick Averwater talks about Hosting a Fall Beginner Band Concert with Jocelyn Hembruch and Tyler Hart, both from Desoto Central Middle School in Southaven, MS, and Trey Reely , who retired in 2019 after 23 years as middle school and high school Band Director in Paragould, AR , and 11 years at Riverview High School in Searcy, AR.  This Conversation was recorded October 12, 2021.

This week Nick Averwater talks with Ryan Richman, Vice President at Eastman Music Company . They'll be talking about the history of the company as it approaches its 30th year, some of its latest products and innovations, and more. Eastman's brands include: Eastman Strings Eastman Winds Eastman Guitars Wm. S. Haynes Co. S.E. Shires Backun Musical Services Bourgeois Guitars

In this episode of the After Hours Director Spotlight, Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Randall Standridge, a former public school band director, and a very busy and widely-published composer, running his own production company, Randall Standridge Music . This week, we'll learn more about the business, and creative, aspects of composing and publishing. We'll also get Randal...

In this episode of the After Hours Director Spotlight, Nick Averwater talks with Randall Standridge . Randall is best-known as a highly respected composer and arranger, but he was also a band director for many years. We'll learn about his early career working in a rural public school district , his techniques for teaching students how to practice the right way, and more. Our conversation is b...

In this episode, Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Elva Kaye Lance, The Director of Bands at Mississippi State University in Starkville. We'll learn more about developing student leaders in the 400-member marching band, how the pandemic has affected procedures within the band program, and more. The conversation was recorded on May 24, 2021. It's broken up in to two episodes,...

In this episode, Nick Averwater talks with Elva Kaye Lance , The Director of Bands at Mississippi State University in Starkville. This is Ms. Lance's 30th year at Mississippi State, and her 19th year as Director of Bands. Under her leadership, the bands have expanded to include four concert bands, a jazz band, two basketball pep bands, and a marching band. In this episode Elva Kaye talks abou...

In this episode of the After Hours Director Spotlight, Nick Averwater talks with Grant Harbison at the Arkansas Bandmasters Association Convention in Little Rock. Grant is the Director of Bands for Jonesboro, Arkansas Public Schools .  In this conversation, Grant talks about how his band program is moving forward as the pandemic affects a second marching band season, the importance of gratitude an...

On August 7th, 2021, Amro Music hosted its first-ever Young Directors Bootcamp. It was a chance for new educators to get practical advice from a panel of four highly successful band directors. Amro Music's Nick Averwater hosted the event, and our panel included: Joseph Quinnelly from Hernando Middle School and High School in Hernando MS,  Kaitlyn Roll from Annie Camp Junior High in Jonesboro,...

On August 7th, 2021, Amro Music hosted its first-ever Young Director's Bootcamp. It was a chance for new educators to get practical advice from a panel of four highly successful band directors in the Mid-South region. The goal for the Young Director's Bootcamp was to help everyone feel more confident and equipped for the first week of school, and beyond. The topics we discussed included:...

In this episode we kick off Season 3 of the After Hours podcast as Nick Averwater and his three guests talk about The Art of the First Week . Joining Nick will be Lindsey Mears from Smyrna Middle School in Smyrna, TN, Brittany Jerrell from Stewarts Creek Middle School , which is also in Smyrna, and Jennifer Church from Greenbrier High School in Greenbrier, Arkansas.

Nick Averwater checks in with Sheryl Laukat from Cannonball Musical Instruments at Summer NAMM in Nashville. Cannonball is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and we'll learn a bit about the company's history, and find out about some of the techniques they use that make their instruments unique.

Nick Averwater checks in with Lisa Steele-MacDonald, Director of Vertical Marketing for Yamaha. Lisa will have the latest information about Esser Funds, and what is still available to music programs, and she'll also share some other resources available to band directors from Yamaha. You can find out more about Yamaha's offerings to band directors at www.yamahaeducatorsuite.com .

Nick Averwater checks in with David Jahnke from Hal Leonard to learn more about Looking Forward To 2020-2021, Hal Leonard's Virtual Music Education Summit , which happens July 29-30, 2021. They talked on July 16th at the Summer NAMM Show in Nashville.

In this episode of the After Hours Director Spotlight, Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Randy Box, the Director of Bands at West Memphis High School in West Memphis, Arkansas. Randy talks about the differences, and similarities, between being a band director in an affluent school district versus one with it's share of economic challenges. He also talks about what advice he would...

Randy Box has taught in four school districts in his 42-year career, most recently at West Memphis High School in Arkansas. In this first part of our conversation he talks about his early influences, taking his band to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade twice, and the importance of the acronym T-S-B-N-A-F-W-A-E-I-N.

Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Dr. Sarah Labovitz , the Associate Director of Bands & Coordinator of Music Education at Arkansas State University . In this episode Dr. Labovitz shares some ideas about setting up a grading and assessment structure for band students. This is the second of two episodes with Dr. Labovitz.

In this episode of the After Hours Director Spotlight, Nick Averwater talks with Dr. Sarah Labovitz , the Associate Director of Bands and Coordinator of Music Education at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. In this first of two episodes with Dr. Labovitz, she talks about the advice she gives to new band directors, ways to avoid burnout, and how to embrace all of the necessary tasks involved w...

Neuroscience and psychology researchers have done extensive studies over the last 20 years to understand how the brain processes music and why music learning seems to be such a cognitively unique activity. Musically trained children have better language and communication skills, can focus for longer and are more likely to stick with difficult problems until they solve them, they are able to contro...