Everything Band Podcast

Travis Cross is the director of the wind ensemble and the Chair of Music at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. He is a champion for greater diversity in the band community and an especially strong advocate for Asian composers, conductors, and teachers. Topics: Adopted from Korea as a baby, Travis grew up in a middle class home in the middle of Iowa. He tells the story of how his choir teacher p...

Adrian Barnes is a music education professor at Rowan University. He joins the show for a discussion about his career and culturally responsive teaching. Topics: How hip hop and growing up playing music in the church were foundational experiences to Adrian's musical career and how an important teacher helped him put it all together. Adrian's experiences at Bethune-Cookman and Florida State Univers...

Julie Giroux joins the show to talk about her remarkable career as a composer and orchestrator as well as her generosity, love of video games, and diversity in music.  Topics: Julie's background growing up in Louisiana and how she went from playing the piano by ear to Los Angeles orchestrating for one of the biggest mini-series of the 1980's just days after her graduation from LSU. Some stories an...

Craig Kirchhoff is emeritus professor of conducting at the University of Minnesota. He joins the show to offer advice about conducting and teaching, and to discuss a career that included working with Frederick Fennell and the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. Topics: Craig's lakefront cabin on the Canadian border and the legacy of Jim Croft. Craig's background and training growing up in Milwaukee, some...

Colonel Jason K. Fettig is the 28th Director of "The President's Own" United States Marine Band. In this episode we discuss his career, the Marine Band, and even talk performance practice for Sousa marches. Topics: Jason's background growing up as a clarinet player and what are some of the important early lessons he learned. The audition process for the Marine Band and the story of how he almost d...

Randall Coleman is the Associate Director of Bands at the University of Alabama and the director of the exceptional Alabama Winds. Topics: Randall's background growing up just north of Birmingham, Alabama and his journey back to the University of Alabama. The impact of that the football success of Nick Saban has had on the music program and Alabama's Million Dollar Band. The Alabama Winds and the...

Mickey Smith Jr. is as inspirational a music educator as you will ever meet. He is a middle school band director in Louisiana and the most recent recipient of the Grammy Music Educator Award. Topics: Growing up in a "forgotten town" in Louisiana and how he started out practicing his saxophone outside in the forest and how it took him out of that town and into a career. "You can con a con, fool a f...

Mickey Smith Jr. is as inspirational a music educator as you will ever meet. He is a middle school band director in Louisiana and the most recent recipient of the Grammy Music Educator Award. Topics: Growing up in a "forgotten town" in Louisiana and how he started out practicing his saxophone outside in the forest and how it took him out of that town and into a career. "You can con a con, fool a f...

Anthony Mazzaferro was the band director at Fullerton College for 29 years. He joins the show to talk about his current career and his current gig at the Orange County School of the Arts. Topics: Anthony's background and the story of how he ended up with a Navy surplus tuba and a career was born. Studying conducting with John Paynter at Northwestern and some tips for score study. Earning his docto...

David Biedenbender is an Assistant Professor of Composition at Michigan State and a member of the Blue Dot Collective. He joins the show to talk about his music and share his thoughts about composing for band. Topics: David's background growing up in Michigan and learning music by watching his mother play organ, and how a high school band director gave him his first big break that led to him study...

Damien Crutcher is the founder of Crescendo Detroit and the conductor of the Farmington Community Band, Civic Concert Band, and the Detroit Community Concert Band. He joins the show to share the stories of the remarkable people in his life and the decisions to help make his home city of Detroit an even better better musical place. Topics: Damien's early story growing up in Detroit including going...

For this special episode, I recorded live from the New Jersey Music Educators Association Conference in Atlantic City. During the conference, I had the opportunity to speak with seven music teachers in the state and asked them about community. A special thank you to Kaleidoscope Adventures for making this possible. Guests and Topics: Philip Aguglia of PaGu batons and a high school band director in...

Robert W. Smith is a prolific composer, educator, and publisher. He joins the show to tell his stories, share some advice, and talk about copyright. If you want to know the importance of making connections, then this is the episode for you!  Topics: Robert's background growing up in a military family and the story of an extraordinary piano teacher that had an indelible influence on Robert's early...

Amy Knopps is the Associate Director of Bands and the Director of Athletic Bands at the University of Missouri, Columbia. In this episode, Amy shares her story of growing up in the Kansas City area and how she found her way to her dream job as the director of the Marching Mizzou. Topics: Amy's background growing up in Lee's Summit through her college experience as a student at the University of Mi...

Mary Kate McNally is the Director of Athletic bands at Ohio Wesleyan University, a co-founder of the And We Were Heard project, and a tireless advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the band community. Topics: The band program at Ohio Wesleyan University, Mary Kate's musical origin story, and a high school band director that had a tremendous influence on her career. Gender stereotypes in...

Larry Neeck has written or arranged over 150 works for C.L. Barnhouse and is now retired after a 32 year career as a middle school band director in Rochester, New York. Topics: Larry's musical background growing up in Pennsylvania and how he passed on a chance to be a varsity quarterback to instead play bells in the band. Larry's journey from cocktail hour pianist to middle school band director in...

Jay Londgren is the band director at the Singapore American School, one of the largest international schools in the world. He joins the show to talk about teaching band abroad and shares stories of teaching in Venezuela, South Korea, and Singapore. Topics: Jay's early years as a musician and some teachers who mentored him on his way to becoming a music teacher. Moving to Venezuela, teaching in tha...

John Thomson enjoyed a hugely successful 40-year career as a band director at New Trier High School (IL) and East Allegheny High School (PA). He is also a contributing author to the Instrumentalist Magazine. Topics: John's early career including playing trumpet duets with his father, how he got his first job at East Allegheny High School, and how he came to write reviews for the Instrumentalist. A...

James David is a composer on the faculty of Colorado State University. He's enjoyed a great deal of recent success with his composition for band and joins the show to tell his story. Topics: Jim's background growing up in Southern Georgia and the importance of gospel and jazz in his musical development. Advice for young composers and what we can do as band directors and music teachers to help youn...

Tim Heath is the Director of Athletic Bands at Wake Forest University. Topics: Tim's background growing up in Eastern North Carolina playing trumpet in the high school band and drum set on the side and how he ended up becoming a music teacher. Tim's early teaching jobs, his decision to go back to school to earn a doctorate, and why that led him to teaching middle school for a year. Thoughts about...

On December 20th I had the honor to present a session at the 2019 Midwest Clinic titled "Podcast Pedagogy: Band Wisdom from 125 Composers, Conductors, and Performers." The holidays have made it difficult to schedule a guest, so instead I have recreated the session and am sharing it here. Normal episodes resume in 2020! Topics: A bit of podcast business. My story and how I arrived here as the host...

Brian Wis, the band director at St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, Illinois joins me for a discussion about booster groups, music literacy, and to share his thoughts about music education. Topics: Brian's background growing up around the Cavaliers and how he got his instrumental start as a fourth grader on the bugle. Building strong relationships with your colleagues to create a shared...

Bobby Lambert is the band director at Wando High School in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. He is also the host of "That Band Life" podcast and will be conducting the Wando Symphonic Band at the 2019 Midwest Clinic. Topics: Bobby's background including the story of how he grew up in rural North Carolina and ended up as a student at Western Carolina and the drum major of the Pride of the Mountains M...

Jonathan Grantham is the band director at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, California. The AVHS Wind Ensemble 1 is making its second appearance at the Midwest Clinic this month. Topics: Jonathan's background growing up in rural Michigan and the band director who inspired him to a career as an educator. The story of Jonathan's first job and the story of why he felt compelled to leave that j...

Keith Hodgson joined the music education faculty at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 2016 after a 26 year teaching career.  Topics: Keith's background growing up learning the piano and then percussion and the important influences on his decision to pursue music as a career. Finding opportunities outside of your formal studies to learn more about being a band director. Keith's high sch...