Board of Directors
Committee Chairs
Outstanding Bandsman Committee Chairman: Leslie Gilreath
Outstanding Bandmaster Committee Chairman: Glen Funderburk
Outstanding Contributor Committee Chairman: David Santiago
Hall Of Fame Committee Chairman: Bryan Bone
Scholarship Committee Chairman: Les Hicken
Young Band Director Award Chairman: David O’Shields
Outstanding Middle School Bandsman Committee Chairman: Alicia Crutchlow
Webmaster: Ryan Tinker
What We Do
Mentorship
• We conduct a special meeting for new band directors to the state of South Carolina each year in conjunction with the South Carolina Band Directors Association’s fall membership meeting to help acquaint and familiarize them with the policies and procedures of the Association and to give them contact information of experienced band directors in their area of the state that could serve as mentors.
• Theta chapter holds a “Best Practices” roundtable twice yearly on both the Middle School and High School level for band directors to gather and exchange ideas and teaching strategies. These roundtables are held at the SCMEA Professional Development Conference in February and the All-State Band Clinic in March.
• We sponsor both a Middle School and a High School Reading Band each year at the All-State Band Clinic, where directors and students come together to read new music provided by publishers.
Scholarships
The Theta Chapter, through its membership dues, supports four student scholarships each year.
- A $ 1,000 and a $500 scholarship are awarded to outstanding high school Seniors who wish to continue their involvement in music in some way during their college years.
- A $500 scholarship will also be awarded to an outstanding high school Senior in the area of Jazz.
- A $200 scholarship is awarded to an outstanding middle school student attending the Furman University summer music camp.
- In partnership with Conn-Selmer, recipients of our Outstanding Young Band Director Award attend the Conn-Selmer Institute each summer.
Commissions
Theta chapter voted to raise its annual membership dues this year to begin a fund supporting a cycle of music commissions every few years. The commissioned works will be debuted by one of the grade-level All-State Bands
Phi Beta Mu is:
The only national or international bandmasters’ fraternity in the world;
The only bandmaster organization to be organized because of one’s love and respect for his fellow man;
The only bandmaster’s organization that provides a forum, by oath, for closer contact between leading members of the profession;
The one organization that acts as a liaison between all bandmaster organizations; and
The one organization which, through the American Bandmasters Association, has as its heritage the greatest bandmasters of all time.