Episode 17: Wendy Higdon, Director of Bands, Creekside Middle School, Carmel, IN

The Bandmasters Podcast

On this episode, I sit down with Wendy Higdon. Wendy Higdon is the Director of Bands and Unified Arts Department Chair at Creekside Middle School in Carmel, IN.

Sitting down with Wendy was a fun conversation. Her experiences include opening up a brand new school as a band director and fine arts administrator, performing at the Midwest Clinic, in her spare time, running the website www.onandoffthepodium.com. Her site provides thoughts on teaching band and supplies free resources for music teachers of all levels. I especially enjoyed hearing about the Midwest Clinic music selection process and Wendy's perspective as an administrator.

I hope you enjoy this episode! Wendy's experiences and expertise should be heard by music teachers of all levels.

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Wendy Higdon is the Director of Bands and Unified Arts Department Chair at Creekside Middle School in Carmel, IN. She began her career as Director of Bands at Lebanon Middle School (IN) in 1991 and came to Carmel Clay Schools in 1999 where she taught band at Carmel Middle School until the opening of Creekside in 2004.

Under her direction, the Creekside Wind Symphony was honored to perform at The Midwest Clinic in December 2013. The Creekside Wind Symphony has also been a featured performing ensemble at the Indiana Music Education Association Conference as well as serving as a rehearsal clinic band at the 2013 Midwest Clinic and at the 2015 Indiana Music Education Association Conference.

Mrs. Higdon has served as an adjudicator, clinician, guest conductor and guest speaker around the country. In 2013, she received the “Fifty Directors Who Make a Difference” Award from School Band and Orchestra Magazine. Her articles have appeared in The Instrumentalist magazine and Bandworld magazine, as well as being published by NAfME, D'Addario Education Collective, and SmartMusic, among others. She has been a frequent presenter at music education conferences including a 2016 presentation at The Midwest Clinic. In 2016 she was a featured conductor for the Music for All Summer Symposium's inaugural Middle School Concert Band Camp. She will be a keynote presenter at the Australian National Band and Orchestra Conference held in Brisbane in 2018.

Mrs. Higdon earned her degree in music education from Ball State University Honors College, graduating summa cum laude. She also holds two masters degrees from Butler University, one in clarinet performance and the second in education administration.

She is a member of Phi Beta Mu International, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, the National Association for Music Education, the Indiana Music Education Association and the Indiana Bandmasters Association.