Alan and Steve talk with Susan Smith live at the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference about small band empowerment, smart repertoire choices, adjudication, and what it means to teach the students in front of you. Susan challenges the idea that smaller programs should have lower standards, reminding directors that success is about culture, musical growth, and meaningful experiences—not just size or ratings. Along the way, she offers practical advice for young teachers, festival judges, mentors, and anyone working to build a strong program with the kids they actually have.
About Susan Smith
Susan L. Smith, B.M.Ed, M.A.Ed., has taught general, choral, and instrumental music at the elementary through collegiate level in Florida, Virginia and Alabama and has served as an author, clinician, conductor, and adjudicator across the United States. She is currently Director of Bands at the Saint James School in Montgomery AL. Mrs. Smith is responsible for teaching the Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Bands as well as Guitar, Jazz Band, and Music Technology. The Saint James Band consistently receives Superior ratings in Concert, Jazz and Marching band events including the Alabama Music Performance Assessment, Smokey Mountain Music Festival and Bands of America Super Regionals and Grand National Championships. She is currently the President of the Alabama Music Educators Association.
She was a Coordinating Author for Warner Bros. Publications’ Expressions Music Curriculum, a vision for a vertical, conceptual approach to teaching music. She consulted on the Elementary Music Curriculum Music Expressions and served as an author for Band Expressions, a secondary component of the curriculum. Smith has presented clinics at many state conventions including AMEA, TMEA, FMEA, IMEA, VMEA, GMEA and National and Regional NAfME conferences. She is on the Middle School Clinician team for the Music for All Summer Symposium, presenting clinics each summer to directors and pre-service college students. In addition, Mrs. Smith serves as an educational consultant for Music for All. She is responsible for the Chamber Music portion of the Music for All National Concert Band Festival.
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