|
Post by dbalash on Aug 9, 2021 12:50:12 GMT -6
Bumping this back up, because I can. Marian Catholic Assistant Director is open. In addition, John Hersey in IL has hired a new director to replace Scott Casagrande, who has retired. Scott is the coordinator of the MFA National Festival. He will be replaced at Hersey by Spencer Hile, who was director of bands at McHenry High School (IL). David Warren has been hired as the Assistant Director of Bands at Marian. He is the current corps director at Phantom Regiment.
|
|
|
Post by LeanderMomma Fan on Sept 5, 2021 10:12:16 GMT -6
For those who haven’t heard, Joe Munoz, Director of Bands at Pearland High School, former TMEA-President, has announced that he has accepted a position in another district in an administrative role. Kenneth Brown, current assistant band director will serve as the interim director of bands.
|
|
|
Post by josephbandfan on Sept 6, 2021 21:39:43 GMT -6
I believe Leon May started writing Keller's drill in 2019 but Keith Potter is also joining as their program coordinator and Zac Simons is their new percussion director.
|
|
|
Post by marimba11 on Sept 6, 2021 21:49:56 GMT -6
I believe Leon May started writing Keller's drill in 2019 but Keith Potter is also joining as their program coordinator and Zac Simons is their new percussion director. If Leon ever retires, bands of america is in trouble! Love Leon though, his drill is probably my favorite
|
|
|
Post by marchingmaniac on Sept 12, 2021 17:42:02 GMT -6
Don't know if this has been made aware yet but Kim Shuttlesworth, formerly of Glenn High School and before that James Bowie High School, is the new head director at Coppell High School. The former head director was promoted to the fine arts director of the district. The associate director also left for Tarpon Springs over the summer, so the new associate director is Riaz Mohammed from James Bowie High School.
|
|
|
Post by LeanderMomma on Sept 12, 2021 19:09:37 GMT -6
Don't know if this has been made aware yet but Kim Shuttlesworth, formerly of Glenn High School and before that James Bowie High School, is the new head director at Coppell High School. The former head director was promoted to the fine arts director of the district. The associate director also left for Tarpon Springs over the summer, so the new associate director is Riaz Mohammed from James Bowie High School. Interesting shuffling there!
|
|
|
Post by gregorydf on Sept 12, 2021 21:01:41 GMT -6
Don't know if this has been made aware yet but Kim Shuttlesworth, formerly of Glenn High School and before that James Bowie High School, is the new head director at Coppell High School. The former head director was promoted to the fine arts director of the district. The associate director also left for Tarpon Springs over the summer, so the new associate director is Riaz Mohammed from James Bowie High School. Interesting shuffling there! Speaking of Glenn High School looks like they were affected like Leander and the band is noticeably smaller this year.
|
|
|
Post by supersound on Sept 12, 2021 21:08:01 GMT -6
Interesting shuffling there! Speaking of Glenn High School looks like they were affected like Leander and the band is noticeably smaller this year. I was always surprised that even before this Glenn never really got their feet off the ground. They had a great director with past success and quality feeder schools but it never panned out. Wonder why.
|
|
|
Post by marimba11 on Sept 12, 2021 21:26:39 GMT -6
Don't know if this has been made aware yet but Kim Shuttlesworth, formerly of Glenn High School and before that James Bowie High School, is the new head director at Coppell High School. The former head director was promoted to the fine arts director of the district. The associate director also left for Tarpon Springs over the summer, so the new associate director is Riaz Mohammed from James Bowie High School. Thanks for the info! There is a video of Coppell on YT, it’s quite good!
|
|
|
Post by principalagent on Sept 12, 2021 21:31:11 GMT -6
Speaking of Glenn High School looks like they were affected like Leander and the band is noticeably smaller this year. I was always surprised that even before this Glenn never really got their feet off the ground. They had a great director with past success and quality feeder schools but it never panned out. Wonder why. They actually probably had the shakiest feeder situation in the district, except maybe Rouse. Leander has a direct feeder from Running Brushy, Vandegrift from Four Points *and* Canyon Ridge, and Vista Ridge from Henry. Leander also has a good chunk of Leander Middle School, and Vista Ridge a very healthy chunk from Stiles and some from Cedar Park Middle. Cedar Park had the vast majority of Cedar Park Middle, plus some small bits and pieces elsewhere depending on the zoning in a given year. Rouse has most of Wiley, but not all, and some of Stiles, but not the Avery Ranch portion. Glenn was getting chunks from LMS and Wiley, which are fine band programs (LMS being particularly storied in the 1990s), but they're not Henry or CPMS or Canyon Ridge or Stiles. So take smaller feeders, without students with experience at Midwest or TMEA or WIBC, and split among a couple of campuses, and it's not as easy. However, Glenn now has a perfect, next-door feeder in Danielson. That'll create strong synergy that could help grow the program substantially and prepare the kids meaningfully from now on. Not to say most schools, including many in Texas, let alone elsewhere, wouldn't kill for the feeder programs that a Glenn or Rouse has. But compared to its district, and the feeders of other direct competitors (e.g. CTJ's, TWHS's and FloMo's feeders all clean up just as well as LISD's big four or five), Glenn had more ground to cover. That doesn't mean it's impossible. Rouse was in a weird spot too--probably made worse by Vandegrift coming a year later and overshadowing them completely. But now, Rouse just left a breakout season in 2019 and is probably on the way to be Leander's 5th of 6 schools to medal at SMBC this year. They're likely to walk somewhat comfortably into Austin finals, ease into Waco finals and challenge for a medal, and probably hit the top 25 for the first time in San Antonio. Glenn could be next tomorrow for all we know.
|
|
|
Post by LeanderMomma Fan on Mar 23, 2022 17:05:40 GMT -6
For those who have not heard already, Joni Perez (Head Director) and Kyle Witty (Associate Director) have both announced their departure from The Woodlands High School Band
|
|
|
Post by supersound on Mar 23, 2022 21:59:04 GMT -6
For those who have not heard already, Joni Perez (Head Director) and Kyle Witty (Associate Director) have both announced their departure from The Woodlands High School Band Oh wow. Super surprising. Joni Perez has been with TWHS as far as I know since 2012, and potentially even earlier. Incredibly talented director, should be an interesting change. TWHS won their national title with Joni Perez at the helm. She’s done great things.
|
|
|
Post by suburbanbandfan on Mar 23, 2022 22:18:04 GMT -6
For those who have not heard already, Joni Perez (Head Director) and Kyle Witty (Associate Director) have both announced their departure from The Woodlands High School Band Any reason why...
|
|
|
Post by principalagent on Mar 24, 2022 7:43:11 GMT -6
For those who have not heard already, Joni Perez (Head Director) and Kyle Witty (Associate Director) have both announced their departure from The Woodlands High School Band Oh wow. Super surprising. Joni Perez has been with TWHS as far as I know since 2012, and potentially even earlier. Incredibly talented director, should be an interesting change. TWHS won their national title with Joni Perez at the helm. She’s done great things. She was a tech there starting about 19 years ago, and became an assistant either the year they almost won GN, or maybe the year after. She became head in 2010. For those who have not heard already, Joni Perez (Head Director) and Kyle Witty (Associate Director) have both announced their departure from The Woodlands High School Band Any reason why... Being a band director is not an easy job, and while not thankless, is probably not thanked enough. Teacher pay in Texas keeps falling behind dramatically. Hours to keep up a program like Leander or The Woodlands are even worse than normal, terrible band director hours. It’s hard to prioritize your family. And wrangling the kids to trips like Grand Nationals often can take a toll too. It’s easy to find yourself in a situation where you aren’t happy after a few years. And that’s without addressing the two-year invisible elephant in the room.
|
|
|
Post by WoodlandsMom4ever on Mar 24, 2022 7:59:50 GMT -6
Yes, I can confirm Mrs Perez and Mr Witty are both leaving the program at the end of the year. They both came to the decision individually without the others knowledge, and then once they had talked and knew both had made the decision they talked to the principal and kids. They didn’t want a rumor mill swirling around job openings and they wanted to leave time for the job openings to be able to bring in the right person.
They have given every ounce of themselves to this program, but they are 2 human beings who want a less rigorous schedule. 7 years ago our ISD across the board took away the 4th band position at every Highschool. Since then we have had the two of them as our Head director and assistant director and the 3rd is the percussion director that also helps with percussion at the jr high. The effect is burnout on our directors. They both are not “jumping ship” for lucrative offers elsewhere- they are just ready for a change of pace.
They will be greatly missed, but our booster family understands and awaits the next dynamic duo of band directors to build on what they have accomplished and continue the next chapter in our Band’s legacy.
|
|
|
Post by principalagent on Mar 24, 2022 9:15:19 GMT -6
There you have it. Even in a very wealthy school district with three decades of success and an average school population of 4000 kids and even just a year after their flagship school’s flagship band program wins on the biggest stage, school districts will still happily throw the arts under a bus. For The Woodlands, considering the size of their school and their program, to only have two directors where some suburban programs even have four, is a clear sign of Conroe ISD’s priorities.
The Perezes and the Selaidens of the world won’t be the last to burn out and move on, seemingly at the peak of their careers. They probably won’t be the last this spring, alone. Being a band director is less and less sustainable by the year, and that accelerated since 2019. As happy as I am that young directors are making the best choices for their lives, I worry about the activity when directors keep getting younger and move on faster.
|
|
|
Post by boahistorybuff on Mar 25, 2022 5:11:20 GMT -6
Yes, it is sad news to hear that Joni Perez and Kyle Witty are leaving The Woodlands. Brett Johnson developed that program into a national power and Joni Perez took the program to the next level, leading them to that 2013 Grand National Title. I am really sad to hear this because I loved their 2021 show so much. Actually, I have loved all of their shows for the last 20 years. I am sure they will find some talented directors to replace them. Nonetheless, it will be a tall order to fill those shoes. Yes, the fact that The Woodlands only has two directors is a shame, especially considering that this is a large wealthy community. I can certainly understand how they would be burned out.
This is actually not too new of a problem. Many of the top-level high school marching bands of the 1970s and early 1980s relied on one (or two) directors. Back then a lot of those directors did everything from arranging music to writing the drill (of course musical arrangements and show design were not nearly as complex as they are today). That is one reason why a lot of the best bands of the 1970s and early 1980s did not have longevity (financial strain took its toll on many programs back then as well). Murray HS KY, Sylva-Webster HS NC, Chesterton HS IN and Herscher HS IL are examples of schools that won either the Grand National Title or Summer National Title who relieved heavily on just one person, their director. In each of those instances, the director left the program for either a more lucrative position and/or because they got burn out. Al Castronovo actually left Chesterton a year or so before his untimely passing. In each of those instances, the loss of the director led to a rapid downfall of the program. During the course of the 1980s and early 1990s, many of the top level schools that had a star director (like Lake Park IL, Norwin PA and Centerville OH) brought in a larger staff to help manage the program (Marian may have been an exception). Since then many of best programs have expanded the number of directors and support staff. In todays environment of hyper competitiveness and extremely elaborate show designs and high end budgets, I can certainly understand how directors can get burn out, especially if there are just two directors leading a national Calibur marching band program like The Woodlands.
Another example of a program that had somewhat similar circumstances was Plymouth-Canton EP MI. During PCEP's glory years (late 1980s through early 2010s) they had a large and very talented staff. They also went through a near revolving door of directors, their most notable being Glen Adsit and David McGrath who led the band to their national titles. While PCEP managed to attract some very talented directors and assistant directors, most of them ended up leaving after a relatively short time period for more lucrative positions; although I am sure there was a good deal of burn out as well. The band almost became a stepping stone for not just talented directors but also some very well renown instructional and design staff. PCEP relied very heavily on parental support to fund their program. Given that they had 2 (and later 3) large high schools to select the band from, they could get a large number of students who were both talented and whose parents could afford to supplement the costs (they did also do a lot of fundraising activities). During the mid/late 2000s a couple things seemed to happen. The school district ran into some financial issues (some funding cuts) which I am sure affected not only the salaries of the directors but also the number of music teachers in the elementary and middle schools feeding into PCEP. The community also fell on a little harder economic times. I think PCEP did a good job weathering some of these situations and are still a very good band. However, they just don't have as deep of pockets as they once had. I was actually a bit shocked this season to see this band march something like 135 members or so, much smaller than what they had in the past.
So I guess my point is that director burn out, funding to the school music programs and director salaries are not a new problem in top level marching band programs. I do however suspect that these are again coming to the forefront now that the time/costs of maintaining a program like The Woodlands has gone up.
|
|
|
Post by art on Mar 30, 2022 18:42:12 GMT -6
Bumping this back up, because I can. Marian Catholic Assistant Director is open. In addition, John Hersey in IL has hired a new director to replace Scott Casagrande, who has retired. Scott is the coordinator of the MFA National Festival. He will be replaced at Hersey by Spencer Hile, who was director of bands at McHenry High School (IL). David Warren has been hired as the Assistant Director of Bands at Marian. He is the current corps director at Phantom Regiment. And he's out.
|
|
|
Post by trumpet300 on Mar 31, 2022 0:49:14 GMT -6
David Warren has been hired as the Assistant Director of Bands at Marian. He is the current corps director at Phantom Regiment. And he's out. What happend?
|
|
|
Post by principalagent on Mar 31, 2022 7:28:47 GMT -6
Took a job back in his hometown.
|
|
|
Post by LeanderMomma Fan on Apr 3, 2022 9:45:59 GMT -6
There is a Head Band Director position open in Fort Bend ISD which appears to mean that SFA is losing their head band director. Hopefully not another burn out. 😬
|
|
|
Post by thewho on Apr 3, 2022 14:42:55 GMT -6
There is a Head Band Director position open in Fort Bend ISD which appears to mean that SFA is losing their head band director. Hopefully not another burn out. 😬 Ryan Demkovich has taken the job at Pearland.
|
|
|
Post by marimba11 on Apr 4, 2022 13:29:11 GMT -6
That really is too bad about TWHS. But I think maybe it is time to do something else (or go somewhere else) when you feel like you have done what you can.
I do think for programs with winds under say 140-150 two directors is okay. As long as maybe middle school directors and private lesson instructors are present and contribute. Once beyond that I think three directors is probably necessary.
Wando has 3 full time positions, but their percussion instructor doubles as jazz and maybe a concert instructor too. Not too big of a problem now that the schools have split, but probably was when they were huge a la 2015. Some situations can handle it.
I think Ayala only had Mark Stone for a while by himself, with Ike maybe as a paid position ... amazing what they accomplished with that. Although I believe their boosters funded large staffs for marching seasons.
|
|
|
Post by bandjunkies on Apr 4, 2022 18:00:33 GMT -6
The head director at Brandeis in San Antonio is also leaving at the end of the school year.
|
|
|
Post by salvation on Apr 5, 2022 0:11:54 GMT -6
So far I have that as Leander, The Woodlands, Brandeis, Vista Ridge, Cedar Ridge, SFA all having major director changes. Should be an interesting shakeup. Cedar Ridge?
|
|
|
Post by trumpet300 on Apr 5, 2022 0:38:11 GMT -6
FloMo is also looking for a Colorguard Director.
|
|
|
Post by FaultLineBlues on Apr 5, 2022 7:57:13 GMT -6
So far I have that as Leander, The Woodlands, Brandeis, Vista Ridge, Cedar Ridge, SFA all having major director changes. Should be an interesting shakeup. Cedar Ridge? Gonna second this, I hadn't heard about any director changes this year from CR?
|
|
|
Post by principalagent on Apr 5, 2022 9:39:27 GMT -6
Union seems to have some color guard and percussion shuffling.
|
|
|
Post by yayband914 on Apr 5, 2022 10:17:55 GMT -6
So far I have that as Leander, The Woodlands, Brandeis, Vista Ridge, Cedar Ridge, SFA all having major director changes. Should be an interesting shakeup. We can add Round Rock to this list after this school year (one of the assistants is leaving).
|
|
|
Post by principalagent on Apr 8, 2022 9:28:21 GMT -6
Add Bowie to the list now. Their head director is taking an Assistant Director of Fine Arts in Killeen ISD.
|
|