Clinician Detail

Chris Gleason - Biographical Information

Chris Gleason is the Arts and Creativity Consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. He is the 2017 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year, 2017 and 2022 semi-finalist for the GRAMMY Music Educator Award, and the first Wisconsin teacher to be named a National Teacher of the Year finalist in 50 years. In 2022, he received the Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence by the NEA Foundation and was selected as a Top 50 Finalist for the 2021 Global Teacher Prize, from over 8,000 nominations from 121 countries around the world. As a 2019 NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellow, Mr. Gleason traveled to South Africa to study the culture and education system.  In 2009, Mr. Gleason created the ComMission Possible Project, which has commissioned 21 new works for bands by renowned composers such as Viet Cuong, Kelijah Dunton, John Mackey, Alex Shapiro, Erika Svanoe,  Andrew Boysen Jr, Michael Markowski, JaRod Hall, and Adrian Sims, among others. The project continues to expand, inviting schools nationwide to participate in the unique, interactive commission process. His work at the state level has led to the creation of the Wisconsin Creativity Summit and Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project, linking poets, composers, and arts educators in an annual collaborative creation.He is the Executive Officer of Beyond The Notes Music Festival, Inc., which has to date inspired more than 55,000 young musicians. His Rising Music Educators Program has impacted and inspired over 200 future music educators. He is featured in the books: Think Like Socrates (Shanna Peeples, 2018) and Rehearsing the Middle School Band (Stephen Meyer, 2018). His 2019 TEDx Talk is entitled “Lighting A Fire In Kids: Three Insightful Teaching Truths.” In his free time, he produces and participates in a below-average podcast called “Beyond ArtLess”.