2021 Reynolds Conducting Institute Fellow

Meet Kristina LaMarca

Kristina LaMarca is in her third year as Director of Instrumental Music at The American International School of Muscat, Oman. She conducts eight secondary level wind, jazz, and percussion ensembles with representation from over 30 different countries. Her previous appointments include Associate Director of Bands at Klein Collins High School in Spring, Texas, Associate Director of Bands at Lawrence Central High School and Director of Bands at Belzer Middle School in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her ensembles have received top honors including “Sweepstakes” and “Gold” ratings at UIL and ISSMA contest, and were Bands of America and TMEA Region 9 Finalists. Her jazz ensembles have held guest collaborations with artists including Emmet Cohen, Joey Tartell and the Metta Quintet through JazzReach. She is a recipient of the 2017 Eli Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship Grant for her project “Whale Songs for Wind Band: Capturing the music of Norwegian Orcas”. Kristina is a 2013 graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she studied saxophone with Otis Murphy. Her conducting mentors include H. Robert Reynolds and Stanley DeRusha. Outside of music, Kristina is a passionate technical diver with Global Underwater Explorers.