Purdue Bands & Orchestras Names New Visiting Instructor

John Williams was hired to the Purdue Bands & Orchestras staff as a Visiting Instructor and will begin in August 2019. For two years previous, he served as the Director of Bands for the Linton-Stockton School Corporation. His program held 250 students grades 5-12 and offered concert bands, marching band, pep bands, and applied music classes. Concert bands under John’s direction consistently earned gold ratings at ISSMA organizational events, including a first-time gold with his 6th-grade band.

Previous to Linton-Stockton, John spent several years as a graduate assistant for the bands & orchestras programs at Purdue (’14-15, ’15-16) and Ball State (’16-17). His duties at both university programs included assistance with marching band, including the Purdue “All-American Marching Band”, focusing on woodwind section development, visual technique, and student leadership guidance, conducting university bands, playing in ensembles, and directing various athletic pep bands.

In addition to these positions, John has also been involved in Indiana high school marching band for 10 years, starting as a visual and woodwind tech for Pendleton Heights High School, continuing with similar duties at Lawrence Central, and serving as the music caption head for both Frankton and Eastern Greene marching bands. Under his musical guidance, the latter two groups earned top 16 positions in the Indiana State Fair Band Day competition, including Eastern Greene’s first time in the night show in the summer of 2018.

John Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Anderson University, where he worked as a student assistant to the band program. He student taught at Lawrence Central with cooperating teacher Matt James. While at AU, John earned several honors playing the clarinet, including an appearance as a concerto soloist and merits in music performance. In addition to clarinet, he has played tenor sax in various college and community jazz bands. In his free time, John enjoys going to stand-up comedy shows, building computers, and maintaining his saltwater fish tank.

Please join Purdue Bands & Orchestras in welcoming Visiting Instructor, John Williams.