In celebration of Music for All’s 40th Anniversary in 2015, we are featuring profiles of music educators who have made a difference in Music for All and in band and orchestra education. In this post we feature a band director and musician who has a long history of participating in Bands of America events.
Glen Adsit is the Director of Bands at The Hartt School in West Hartford, Connecticut, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and the Foot in the Door ensemble and guides all aspects of the graduate wind conducting degrees. Professor Adsit was appointed the Director of Bands at The Hartt School in the fall of 2000 and was awarded the 2014 Larsen Prize for outstanding teaching at the University of Hartford.
Ensembles under his direction have performed at Hill Auditorium (Ann Arbor, Michigan), the Musikverein (Vienna, Austria), Benroya Ilsley Hall (Seattle, Washington) Carnegie Hall’s Stern Hall (New York, New York) and the Central Conservatory (Beijing, China), among others. Adsit’s performances have won praise from such notable composers as John Corigliano, Joseph Schwanter, Bright Sheng, Susan Botti, Joan Tower, Michael Colgrass, and William Bolcom.
How long have you been teaching?
I have been teaching now for 29 years.
Where have you taught in the past?
My career started in the Plymouth-Canton School District in Michigan. Following that role I took a position as the Associate Director of Bands at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico and have been at The Hartt School for 16 years now.
Where did you go to college? What degrees did you earn?
I received a Bachelor of Performance and Music Education degree from the University of Michigan and a Master’s of Music in Wind Conducting from the University of Michigan.
What is one thing you’d say to a new band director who asks you “what is the one thing you wish someone had told you when you were just starting out?”
My advice would be to seek out as many opportunities as you can with more experienced educators and musicians and ask as many questions as you can.
Tell us about your participation with Music for All and Bands of America.
The marching band I directed at Plymouth Centennial High School participated in many Bands of America competitions. We won Bands of America Grand National Championships in 1990, 1991 and 1999.
What are some of the highlights and memorable moments from your experiences related to Music for All/Bands of America?
I don’t think I can pinpoint just one moment, but I have always been impressed by the incredible degree of creativity I witnessed at the competitions. They’re always filled with so many creative people.
