Myra Rhoden |
Donna Hesch |
BIO: Dr. Myra Rhoden is the founder of the Athena Music and Leadership Camp (athenacamp.com), an all-girls music program created to promote musical excellence while emphasizing leadership skills. She also serves as the Director of Bands and Fine Arts Department Chairperson at Fayette County High School (GA). Rhoden frequently serves as a guest conductor for state, regional, and university honor bands and is honored to have presented sessions at The Midwest Clinic, various national, state and regional conferences, and for school systems and professional development clinics throughout the United States and Canada.
A native of Tuskegee, Alabama, Dr. Rhoden was named the NAfME 2018 National Band Director of the Year, has been awarded the Outstanding Service to Music Award from Tau Beta Sigma, the Golden Rose Award from Women Band Directors International, multiple Citations of Excellence from the National Band Association, and has been named STAR Teacher and Teacher of the Year. She had the distinct pleasure of being a guest conductor for the United States Army Field Band of Washington, D. C. and the Tara Winds of Atlanta, Georgia. She is honored to be a member of the Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity, serves as a Conn Selmer Educational Clinician and was elected to the prestigious American Bandmasters Association in 2023. She holds degrees from the University of Alabama and the University of Southern Mississippi and resides in Fayetteville, Georgia with her husband, Errol Jr. Their son, Errol III, is a freelance musician based in Los Angeles. |
BIO: Donna Hesch is a recipient of the Spectrum Cable/Pizza Hut Outstanding Educator Award and the Masayuki Tokioka "Tiger Pride" Award, honoring her decades of service as Director of Bands & Orchestras at McKinley High School in Honolulu. Working with her husband Thomas Hesch (assistant director), their program at McKinley was recognized as a national model of excellence by the World Association for Symphonic Bands & Ensembles, following their record-setting performance at Carnegie Hall. At the 2017 Midwest Clinic, they were honored by the Music Education Alliance, the National Band Association and the College Band Directors National Association after being named the western division winners of the Dr. William P. Foster Award of Excellence. McKinley is also listed on the John Philip Sousa Foundation's national historic honor roll of distinguished high school bands.
Mrs. Hesch previously served as assistant band director at Kahuku High School, working with director Michael Payton. Kahuku was twice selected to perform in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, the Florida Citrus Bowl, the Holiday Bowl, the Midosuji Parade in Osaka, Japan, and was recognized by the National Band Association as one of the top high school marching bands in the country. Mrs. Hesch has been an invited judge/clinician/conductor for honor bands/music festivals/camps across the state, and was honored to be the first woman from Hawaiʻi to serve as a judge at the OBDA "Parade of Bands" Festival. She and McKinley hosted the Pacific Music Institute summer band/orchestra program, and hundreds of music festivals & concerts with local, mainland, and international groups/organizations. She graduated Summa Cum Laude, third in her class, earning Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music Education from the University of Hawaiʻi. She served on the field staff of the Hula Bowl All-Star Marching Band, and was inducted into the prestigious Phi Kappa Phi national honor society & Sigma Alpha Iota international women's music fraternity. She and her husband served for many years as the directors of the Honolulu Community Concert Band, and led the HCCB on a tour of New Zealand & Australia, receiving a five-minute standing ovation after their sold-out performance at the Sydney Opera House. They also performed professionally with the Royal Hawaiian Band, played in dozens of award-winning musical productions, and were each awarded Citations of Excellence by the National Band Association for their outstanding contributions to the band, music, and education fields, here in Hawaiʻi and across the globe. |
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