Former Director of Fine Arts for Arlington, Texas Independent School District and past National Champion band director to lead Music for All staff and operations
Dr. Jeremy L. Earnhart will join Music for All as Chief Operating Officer in January 2018. As COO, Dr. Earnhart will be a member of Music for All’s executive leadership team and oversee Music for All’s programs and events and their implementation by its 30 full and part-time employees.
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Music for All, Inc. is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 educational organization that annually presents more than 30 scholastic music and arts education programs and events across America and is a voice advocating for student participation and access to music and arts education.
Dr. Earnhart has been the Director of Fine Arts for the Arlington (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) since 2013. Educating over 63,000 students, AISD provides world-class musical, visual, and kinesthetic arts programs. From 2009-2013 he was Director of Fine Arts for the Irving ISD, Texas, where student participation in secondary fine arts increased by over 40%.
Dr. Earnhart has a long association with Music for All, scholastic music teaching, and administration. He is a member of Music for All’s Board of Directors, and has adjudicated numerous Music for All/Bands of America programs and events.
Dr. Earnhart was director of the 2007 Bands of America Grand National Champion and 2004 UIL Texas State Champion L.D. Bell High School Band, and served on L.D. Bell’s faculty from 1998-2009. He graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music Education, holds certifications in International Baccalaureate Music, and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Dallas Baptist University.
“Dr. Earnhart is a respected music professional and experienced educator, whose belief in and support of Music for All has been invaluable,” says Gayl Doster, Chairman of the Board of Music for All. “His successes as an administrator during his tenure with Arlington ISD bring his expertise in advocating for music and arts education to Music for All’s operations.”
“Jeremy will bring unprecedented skills and value to Music for All,” added Eric Martin, Music for All’s President and CEO, “supporting its mission in the design and operation of the programs and events that provide ‘positively life-changing’ experiences for our participants, model success, and advocate and advance the cause of scholastic music education and local, state, and national commitments.”
During Dr. Earnhart’s tenure with the AISD, it increased secondary performing arts participation by 22%, in part through passing a historic $663.1 million bond package which led with Fine Arts initiatives including building a District-wide Fine Arts Center, establishing two Fine Arts & Dual Language Elementary Academies, creating acoustically appropriate strings classrooms for all 54 elementary schools, and allocation of $9.8 million for instruments and uniforms to remove barriers and promote student access. In addition to creation of the Arts & Language Academies, Dr. Earnhart led District efforts supporting student success including establishing a partnership with the University of North Texas for Dual Credit Music and creation of the nation’s first public/private partnership course in Musical Instrument Repair with Music & Arts. With the Arlington High School Orchestra, AISD also began the first Texas chapter of United Sound, providing musical performance experiences through peer mentorship for students with special needs, a program sponsored and supported by Music for All.
Raised on New York’s Long Island – son of a band director and special education teacher – Dr. Earnhart has always been immersed in music and education. Skills developed as an all-state trumpet player led to study at the University of North Texas with Dr. Leonard Candelaria and performance in top concert ensembles under Eugene Corporon and Dennis Fisher, and the 2 o’clock Lab Band under James Riggs. Teaching private lessons at L.D. Bell H.S. led to band directing, to Bands of America, and being named the Texas Outstanding Young Bandmaster by Phi Beta Mu, the International Bandmasters Fraternity. Dr. Earnhart will relocate to Indiana with his wife Gwendolyn, an elementary music teacher, and their daughter Kierstyn.
