Conductors

ED DAVIS

Ed Davis is Director of Bands at Community Christian School in Stockbridge, after retiring from 30 years of teaching in the public schools. Mr. Davis, a native of Alberta, Virginia, received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from East Carolina University and his Master of Music Education degree from Georgia State University. He taught in the Clayton County School System for 21 years, with 19 years spent in service at Adamson Middle School. The last 8 years of his public school career were spent as band director at Austin Road Middle School in Henry County. He has been listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers on five different occasions.

Mr. Davis’s professional affiliations include the Music Educators National Conference, the Georgia Music Educators Association, the American String Teachers Association, and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. He is a Past President of the Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity. Mr. Davis is a member of the National Band Association, and has received that organization’s “Citation of Excellence” on four occasions. In December, 1986, Mr. Davis and the Adamson Band Program received the prestigious Sudler Cup from the John Philip Sousa Foundation. In 1997 he was selected into the John Philip Sousa Legion of Honor for his contributions to music education. Mr. Davis has served the Georgia Music Educators Association in many positions at the district level and as State Band Division Chairman, 2nd Vice President, and President. Currently he serves as immediate Past President of GMEA.

Mr. Davis is very active as a guest conductor and adjudicator and has served in these capacities in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. He was co-founder of the Tara Winds Concert Band, and co-founder of ENCORE! Music Camps which provides summer camp opportunities for middle school and junior high band and orchestra students. He is also assistant conductor of the Southern Crescent Symphony Orchestra.

Davis’s bands have received wide acclaim through performances at four Georgia Music Educators Conventions, the University of South Carolina Band Clinic and Conductor’s Symposium, the University of Georgia High School Music Festival, the prestigious Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the University of Georgia Middle School Music Festival, and the Fifth and Seventh Biennial National Conventions of the National Band Association. In February 2002, the Austin Road 8th Grade Band performed for the joint conference of the National Band Association and the College Band Directors National Association. Bands under his direction have received 67 consecutive superior ratings at GMEA sponsored festivals.

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VALERIE WOMACK MORGAN

Valerie Morgan is currently in her eighth year as middle school band director at Woodward Academy. Previously, she has held positions at Fayette Middle School and Babb Middle School. Her ensembles have consistently earned superior ratings in all evaluated festival events. Bands under Mrs. Morgan’s direction have received invitations to perform at the Georgia Music Educators Association In-service Conference, the Sixth Annual Southeastern United States Middle School Band Clinic, the Fourth, Eighth and Seventeenth Annual University of Georgia Middle School Music Festivals, the Twenty-fourth Annual Southeastern United States Band Clinic and the Atlanta International Band and Orchestra Conference. The Woodward Academy Middle School Bands have won numerous sweepstakes and division awards at regional and national music festivals. In 1998, the Fayette Middle School Eighth Grade Symphonic Band presented a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Mrs. Morgan also serves as a conductor with the Youth Concert Band of Atlanta, an auditioned group for young musicians in grades 7 , 8, and 9. The group strives to contribute to the musical education of its members and to provide performance opportunities beyond school ensembles to band students exhibiting exceptional talent and ability. The Youth Concert Band of Atlanta performed at the University of Georgia Middle School Music Festival in December 2007 and will perform at Lincoln Center in summer 2008.

Mrs. Morgan received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Troy State University and her Masters of Music Education degree from the VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois. She is a member of the Music Educators National Conference, the Georgia Music Educators Association, the National Band Association, and Phi Beta Mu. Mrs. Morgan has been a recipient of the National Band Association, “Citation of Excellence” on several occasions. She has served in numerous leadership capacities at both the district and state levels for GMEA. Mrs. Morgan is active as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the southeastern United States.

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