In August 2021, Martin Gaines will start as the director of instrumental activities and athletic bands.

Sioux City, IA – Martin I. Gaines has joined the Morningside School of Visual and Performing Arts as director of instrumental activities and athletic bands. Gaines will begin his duties in August 2021.

Gaines currently serves as the associate director of bands in the W.A. Hanna Department of Performing Arts at McNeese State University where he conducts the symphonic band, pep band, and teaches music education and theory courses. He is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting at the University of Arizona and holds a Master of Music degree in conducting and music education from Middle Tennessee State University and Bachelor of Music Education degree from the VanderCook College of Music.

Gaines is an active conductor, clinician, and music producer, and his most recent recording project, “David Maslanka: Music for Wind Ensemble,” was released in January 2021 on the Toccata Classics Label. He has also served as producer for an album featuring the wind orchestra music of Nigel Clarke. Before his appointment at McNeese State, he served as the principal conductor for the Arts Express Orchestra in Tucson, Arizona, and as the founding conductor of the UArizona chamber ensemble Solar Winds.

Prior to pursuing graduate studies, Gaines taught middle and high school bands and orchestras for fifteen years in Illinois, Alabama, Georgia, and most recently in Florida where he was named Teacher of the Year for Oakleaf High School in 2015. His bands have consistently received top marks from adjudicators and were often featured in clinic performance. Gaines holds professional memberships in the College Band Director National Association, College Music Society, College Orchestra Directors Association, International Conductor’s Guild, National Association for Music Education, National Band Association, Tau Beta Sigma, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and he is a Life Member of Kappa Kappa Psi.

The Morningside College School of Visual and Performing Arts provides immersive opportunities for Morningside students and the Siouxland community to experience the power of music and the fine arts. All Morningside students, regardless of major, can audition and perform in ensembles and productions. Learn more about studying music at Morningside here.

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