Managing a band program can often have directors preoccupied with determining the “what” and the “how,” while sometimes forgetting your “why.” This clinic will provide multiple strategies to assist with creating “the standard” for your program by not only understanding your “what” or “how,” but by helping to define “why” you do what you do. Strategies will be presented that will help build a family atmosphere of excellence, accountability, and community within various demographics.
Myra Rhoden
- Biographical Information
Myra Rhoden serves at the Director of Bands and Fine Arts Department Chairperson at Fayette County High School in Fayetteville, Georgia. Located in a suburb of Atlanta, the FCHS Band program has performed at national and international venues and consists of three concert bands, a competitive marching band and winter guard, a jazz band, and chamber ensembles.
Dr. Rhoden was named the 2018 National Band Director of the Year by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and was recently honored to be a guest conductor for the United States Army Field Band of Washington, D.C. She has been awarded the National Band Association Citation of Excellence on four occasions, has been named STAR Teacher at FCHS, was named Teacher of the Year on two occasions, and was presented the 1995 Sallie Mae First Class Teacher Award, a national award given to one teacher in each state for an outstanding first year of teaching. She is the founder of the Athena Music and Leadership Camp, a summer band and orchestra camp for middle and high school-aged girls that was created to promote musical excellence while emphasizing high self-esteem and leadership skills.
A native of Tuskegee, Alabama, she received the Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees in Music Education from the University of Alabama and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern Mississippi under the tutelage of Dr. Thomas Fraschillo. Dr. Rhoden is a member of Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity, serves as a GMEA All-State Band Organizer, and has served as the GMEA District VI Band Chairperson. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Southeastern United States (SEUS) Honor Band Clinic at Troy University, served on the Board of Directors for the Alabama Bandmasters Association, and is honored to be a clinician and adjudicator throughout the southeast. She resides in Fayetteville with her husband, Errol Jr., and son, Errol III.