Everything Band Podcast

Oscar Dames is a music educator in Nassau, Bahamas where he serves as a lecturer at the University of the Bahamas after recently retiring as the band director of C.R. Walker Senior High School. He has a fascinating story and is also the author of book titled Oscar's A+ Band Director Guide: A Veteran Band Teacher's Guide to Teaching Music. This interview offers terrific insight into music education in the Caribbean and specifically the Bahamas. Sponsored by Kaleidoscope Travel.

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.

Adrian Barnes is a music education professor at Rowan University. He joins the show for a discussion about his career and culturally responsive teaching.

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. 

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.

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.

Randall Coleman is the Associate Director of Bands at the University of Alabama and the director of the exceptional Alabama Winds.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Celebrate 3 years of the podcast with composer Robert W. Smith and learn about his career, copyright law, and the importance of making connections!

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.

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.