My journey with music began with weekly piano lessons in second grade with Mrs. Jean O’Brien, an encouraging but firm teacher who insisted on theory alongside keyboard practice. I studied with her all the way through high school graduation, and I’d later be grateful for that grounding in piano and theory once I began undergraduate music courses.
My musical growth also owes a lot to Craig Ramsey, my church choir director, who guided me through middle and high school. He and his wife both held multiple degrees in vocal studies — quite a stroke of luck for our small town — and he cultivated a love of singing and choral music I still carry with me.
My tiny, rural hometown in Tennessee, is small enough that band was the only music option in middle and high school. Our band director, James F. “Pete” Evans, was a regional legend and a gifted salesman. He talked me out of starting on clarinet in sixth grade and onto horn instead, promising a loaner instrument for both home and school so I wouldn’t have to haul it on the bus, and he told my parents that playing well enough could mean college scholarships. To newbie band parents and a soon to be first generation college student, this sealed my fate as the newest horn player in sixth grade band.
In the South, football and marching band are a way of life, and I fell for the pageantry immediately. That love eventually led to serving as drum major in middle school (yes, that existed), high school, and college – during which I set myself up for unlearning lots of unhelpful conducting habits – mixed in with a couple of years marching mellophone in drum & bugle corps.
As much as I loved piano and choir, band was where I felt most at home — I loved the challenge of horn, and having the opportunity to conduct made it even more exciting. I was so thrilled to be a part of all of it – could it get any better?! Fortunately, a summer at TN Governor’s School for the Arts introduced me to orchestral and chamber music, further expanding my world.
I started my undergrad in music education at Austin Peay State University (TN), throwing myself into every ensemble that included horn, piano, or alto voice – even jazz band. Summers marching drum corps were followed by two summers at Brevard Music Center, playing with the faculty and opera orchestra and learning from incredible musicians. My interest in horn drew me directly into a master’s in horn performance at UNC Greensboro. There, I was assigned graduate assistantship hours under the Director of Bands — someone I didn’t know at the time — and it turned out that Dr. John Locke would become one of the most influential people in my life.
Over two years of horn studies, I played principal in Dr. Locke’s wind ensemble, and I took his graduate conducting class, which reignited my interest in conducting after all those years of drum majoring. That led to private conducting lessons and a third year at UNCG to complete a second master’s in music education with a conducting cognate. Remarkably, with zero professional conducting experience, Dr. Locke handed me sole leadership of the University Band that year. I still don’t fully understand how he knew I was worthy, but I’m forever grateful — that year is where I found my purpose, my career-long mentor, and my direction forward.
From there I taught middle school band in Wisconsin, high school band in Texas, and was Assistant Director of Bands back at my alma mater, Austin Peay. Eventually I returned to UNC Greensboro for my DMA in conducting, where I had the opportunity to study with both Dr. Locke and Dr. Kevin Geraldi while playing principal horn in their ensembles.
I spent three years conducting orchestra and band at Georgia Tech, then became Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Michigan. Now I’m continuing to learn and grow as Associate Director of Bands at the University of Maryland, teaching undergraduate conducting, leading the wind ensemble, and directing the athletic band program. Along the way, I’ve taught hundreds of students over sixteen summers as a brass instructor for Phantom Regiment and Carolina Crown Drum & Bugle Corps, and I currently serve as an evaluator for Drum Corps International. I am grateful for every opportunity to stand in front of an ensemble, serve as an evaluator, or simply make music.
Back when I was that girl in eighth grade science class having an “aha” moment that music was my future (sorry, Mrs. Harris, for not paying attention!), I had no idea where it would take me or how many amazing musical humans I’d get to meet along the way. But I’m glad I listened — I’m still listening, and still learning.
