Running A Large University Band Program With A Growth-Conscious Mindset

This week we kick off a series of six episodes designed to get you ready for the upcoming school year. We're posting this episode on Monday, July 7, 2025, and we'll have new episodes this Thursday, July 10th, as well as on Monday and Thursday for the next two weeks, so that will be July 14th, 17th, 21st, and 24th. The episodes that post on the 14th and 17th will be all about instrument placement, and the following week we'll look at everything you need to know to have a successful rental meeting.This week Nick Averwater talks with Lauren Duncan from Center Hill High School in Olive Branch, MS, Matt Pickering from Lewisburg Middle School in Hernando, MS, and Joel Roberts from South Marshall Middle School in Benton, KY.Our conversation was recorded June 26, 2025. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.

This week Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Dr. John Zastoupil, Director of Bands at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.In this episode we'll learn more about the responsibilities of the job away from the podium. He'll also tell us what he does to try to achieve a healthy work-life balance in a demanding job such as this.Our conversation was recorded in December 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part two.

This week Nick Averwater talks with Dr. John Zastoupil, Director of Bands at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.In this episode we'll learn about the musical path that brought Dr. Zastoupil to UT  three years ago, and some of the exciting ways the program is continuing to grow. He'll also share his thoughts on how high school band directors can prepare students who want to be a part of a college band program.Our conversation was recorded in December 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.

This week Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Faith Serna, Assistant Band Director and Color Guard Coordinator at Highland High School in Highland, Arkansas. The Highland School District serves several small towns in north central Arkansas, and Faith grew up in the district.In the last episode, Faith talked about starting, or improving, color guard in a marching band, but in this second part of the conversation we'll switch directions and learn more about her first job in music education as band director in a very small school district in McCrory, Arkansas, a town of 1,500 people, located 70 miles northeast of Little Rock. We'll hear about the challenges she faced early on as the high school band director, and how she was able to more than triple the size of the program in the three years that she was there.Our conversation was recorded in the Fall of 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part two.

This week Nick Averwater talks with Faith Serna, Assistant Band Director and Color Guard Coordinator at Highland High School in Highland, AR. The Highland School District serves several small towns in north central Arkansas. Faith grew up in the district, and studied with two band directors who are now her colleagues, Hope and Greg Bruner.In this episode Faith will tell us more about getting students interested in color guard, the equipment needed, and more.Our conversation was recorded in the Fall of 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.Here are some documents and videos from Faith that will help you if you're interested in starting a color guard for your band.

This week we wrap up our six-part series looking at recruiting students for your band program as Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Brent Hopper, Nathan Anderson, and Brandan Bakkala. Brent is Middle School Band Director at Lakeland Preparatory School in Lakeland, TN, which is a town of around 14,000 located just northeast of Memphis. Nathan is a band director at Greene County Tech in Paragould, a city of 30,000 in northeast Arkansas. Brandan is Band Director at Valley View High School in Jonesboro, which is the fifth largest city in the Arkansas, with a population of just over 80,000, and is also located in the northeastern part of the state.In this episode we'll find out how these educators successfully work with school administration, fellow teachers, and especially counselors, to make sure deadlines are met and schedules are set. They'll also tell us how they communicate with parents and students directly, to let them know more about the band program.Our conversation was recorded January 3, 2025. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part two.

This week we continue with episode five of our six-part series looking at recruiting students for your band program as Nick Averwater talks with Brent Hopper, Nathan Anderson, and Brandan Bakkala. Brent is Middle School Band Director at Lakeland Preparatory School in Lakeland, TN, which is a town of around 14,000 located just northeast of Memphis. Nathan is a band director at Greene County Tech in Paragould, a city of 30,000 in northeast Arkansas. Brandan is Band Director at Valley View High School in Jonesboro, which is the fifth largest city in the Arkansas, with a population of just over 80,000, and is also located in the northeastern part of the state.In this episode we'll learn about the similar ways in which these directors begin thinking about recruiting for next year on the first day of school in the current year. They'll also tell us about the ways they use short videos and social media to reach out to potential band members.Our conversation was recorded January 3, 2025. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.

This week we continue with episode four of our six-part series looking at recruiting students for your band program as Nick Averwater continues his conversation with Joe Quinnelly, Reggie Coleman, and Daniel Ritch. Joe Quinnelly is Director of Bands at Hernando Middle School, which is part of the largest school district in Mississippi, and is located just south of Memphis. Reggie Coleman is Band Director at Rocky Fork Middle School in Smyrna, TN, which is a town of 53,000 located a half hour southeast of Nashville. Daniel Ritch is Head Band Director at Hardin County Middle School in Savannah, TN, which is a town of 7,200, two hours east of Memphis.In this episode we'll learn about the ways that recruiting has changed at their schools since the pandemic, how they build and maintain strong relationships with counselors and administrators, and more.Our conversation was recorded December 23, 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part two.Here are the band director resources on Amro Music's website that were referenced in the conversation.

This week we continue with episode three of our six-part series looking at recruiting students for your band program as Nick Averwater talks with Joe Quinnelly, Reggie Coleman, and Daniel Ritch. Joe Quinnelly is Director of Bands at Hernando Middle School, which is part of the largest school district in Mississippi, and is located just south of Memphis, Reggie Coleman is Band Director at Rocky Fork Middle School in Smyrna, TN, which is a town of 53,000 located a half hour southeast of Nashville, and Daniel Ritch is Head Band Director at Hardin County Middle School in Savannah, TN, which is a town of 7,200, two hours east of Memphis.Our conversation was recorded December 23, 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part one.

This week we continue our series taking a closer look at recruiting students for your band program, and we'll hear the second part of a conversation Nick Averwater had with Brittany Jerrell and Emma Lang. Brittany is Co-Director of Bands at Stewarts Creek Middle School in Smyrna, TN, a city of just over 50,000, 20 miles southeast of Nashville. Emma teaches at Trenton-Rosenwald Middle School in Trenton, TN, which is a town of 4,200 in West Tennessee, 75 miles northeast of Memphis.In this episode we'll be learning more about how these educators communicate with the parents of students to let them know about the benefits of being in band. We'll also find out how they encourage students to join the band when there are so many other activities available to them. Our conversation was recorded December 11, 2024. We've broken it up into two episodes, and this is part two.