Clinician Detail

A Interview-Conversation With Richard and Cheryl Floyd

Clinic Synopsis:

Richard and Cheryl Floyd are respected and recognized names in the band world. Cheryl Floyd has a storied professional journey including her tenure at Hill Country Middle School and Murchison Middle School in Austin, Texas. This includes multiple performances at the Midwest Clinic, Music for All National Festival and the Western International Band Clinic. Richard Floyd, Texas UIL State Director of Music Emeritus, has enjoyed a distinguished and highly successful career at every level of wind band performance, from beginning band programs through high school and university wind ensembles as well as community bands. ?

Cheryl Floyd - Biographical Information

Cheryl Floyd completed her twenty-fifth year as Director of Bands at Hill Country Middle School in Austin, Texas in May 2017.  Prior to her tenure at Hill Country, she served as Director of Bands at Murchison Middle School, also in Austin, for eight years.  Musical organizations under her leadership have consistently been cited for musical excellence at both local and national invitational festivals.  Mrs. Floyd is recognized nationally for her educational and musical achievements at the middle school level. The Hill Country Middle School Band has performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in 1998 and again in 2006, Music for All’s National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis (March 2012), as well as the Western International Band Clinic (November 2014) under Mrs. Floyd’s direction. Since retirement in 2017 Mrs. Floyd continues to enjoy an active schedule, travelling extensively as an adjudicator, clinician, author, university lecturer and guest conductor with engagements in some 30 states including presentations at numerous state music association conference and at the 2019 Midwest Clinic. When not travelling she maintains a flute studio for young students and serves as a mentor for middle school band directors in the greater Austin area. Cheryl Floyd was the recipient of the Texas Bandmasters Association Exemplary Middle School Band Program Citation in 1908 and she appeared on the cover of the May 2005 Instrumentalist magazine which contained a featured article on the Hill Country Middle School band program. She takes great pride in holding the distinction of being among the first women guest conductors of the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C. in September,1998. In 2003, Mrs. Floyd was elected to the American Bandmasters’ Association. She is the fifth female member of this 225-member organization and the first middle school band director to be chosen for ABA membership. In 2016 she was named a Yamaha master educator, one of only 20 in the nation.  For three decades, she has maintained a keen interest in commissioning new works for concert band and has collaborated with such internationally recognized composers as Frank Ticheli, Cajun Folk Songs, Shenandoah, Bob Margolis, Renaissance Fair, Dana Wilson, Sang!, Ron Nelson, Courtly Airs and Dances, Steven Barton, Hill Country Flourishes, Chris Tucker, Twilight in the Wilderness. Catherine McMichael, Cape Breton Postcard, Undertow, by John Mackey Spangled Heavens by Donald Grantham, a consortium commission for TMEA's MS Region 18 by Viet Cuong entitled Diamond Tide, and most recently, Sparkle by Scott McAllister.. The works generated by these ongoing projects have been widely acclaimed as being among the most significant works for young band.

Richard Floyd - Biographical Information

Richard Floyd has amassed a distinguished career at virtually every level of music education and wind band performance. He most recently retired as the University Interscholastic League State Director of Music at the University of Texas at Austin and now holds the title Texas State Director of Music Emeritus.   He also has just completed a 35-year tenure as Musical Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphonic Band, viewed to be one of the premier adult concert bands in America. He currently is enjoying his 59th year of professional involvement as a conductor, music educator, author, clinician, and administrator. His ensembles have performed at numerous state and national conventions and conferences including the 1977 College Band Directors National Association, the 1981 Music Educators National Conference and concerts at the Midwest International Clinic in Chicago in 1989, 1997 and 2007.  Other distinguished performances include concerts for the American Bandmasters Association in 1993 and 2006 and the 2004 Western International Band Clinic in Seattle, Washington. In addition, he has toured extensively as a clinician and conductor throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. The Texas Bandmasters Association named him Texas Bandmaster of the Year in 2006 and presented him with the TBA Lifetime Administrative Achievement Award in 2008. He received the Texas Music Educators Association Distinguished Service Award in 2009 and was inducted into the Bands of America Hall of Fame and Texas PBM Hall of Fame in 2011. Also, in 2011 he was awarded the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic Medal of Honor for distinguished service to the profession and in 2018 was recognized as a Midwest Clinic Legend.  In 2014 he was inducted into the National Band Association Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts and was also honored with the Kappa Kappa Phi Distinguished Service to Music medal. Mr. Floyd’s held the post of National Secretary for the College Band Directors National Association from 1979 to 2007 and he has played an active leadership role in that organization’s many projects and services for over four decades.  He also currently serves on the Board of Directors for Music for All and is a Yamaha Master Educator. In 2006 he was featured on the GIA Produced DVD entitled Kindred Spirits from the series Conducting from The Inside Out.  Other conductors included H. Robert Reynolds, Craig Kirchhoff, and Allan McMurray. In 2015 his book entitled The Artistry of Teaching and Making Music was published to critical acclaim by GIA Publications. His second book, The Seven Deadly Sins of Music Making was released by GIA in August 2020.