William Vandelinder

Background

About William Vandelinder

I started playing piano at 9 years old. I joined band and choir in high school and started learning to be a percussionist; I was also my high school choir's accompanist. In band, I started learning all of the instruments and had a knack for learning to play. I became a drum major my senior year. I was the head drum major for Music City Drum Corps in 2010 and 2011 (RTN); MTSU's Band of Blue in 2011, 2012, and 2013; and I was an assistant conductor for the Phantom Regiment in 2012 (SUTA, bronze medal!) as well as a mellophone tech in 2017. I earned my bachelor's degree from MTSU in 2014 and became a band director in Paragould, Arkansas. During my time in Paragould, I helped the band earn two state marching band championship titles among many other awesome experiences. We typically had around 80-90% recruitment for our beginner band program, and I added AP Music Theory to the school's curriculum. In my four years at Paragould, I also played piano and conducted in various musicals including the following: 9 to 5, Annie Get Your Gun, Beauty and the Beast, Guys and Dolls, The Little Mermaid, Little Women, and My Fair Lady. While being a full-time+ band director, I earned my Master of Music in Music Education from The University of Memphis. The degree was fully online, and I earned a 4.0 GPA AND graduated a semester early. I wrote 40 essays and composed two original pieces of music:"Saxy as Hecc" for alto saxophone quartet (in the style of Debussy) and "It's All Up To Cats," an incidental chance music piece for two cats and two instrumentalists. I defended my research project which studied the Effect of Music Performance Anxiety on beginning band participant performance and gave a 50-minute presentation on the history of the Collegiate Band Directors National Association. In 2018, I accepted the position of Band Director for Fayetteville Public Schools. I spent two years as the head band director at Ramay Junior High (2018-2020) and two years as the assistant band director at Fayetteville High School. I successfully added Jazz Band to the high school's curriculum. My groups always received superior ratings at concert assessment and marching band assessments. Because of COVID, this portion is a bit slim due to nearly two years of performances being cancelled. In the Summer of 2022, I auditioned and was accepted to the University of Arkansas to study and earn a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano. Stay tuned for more!