Collaborative music education program fosters global connection through CWU

Central Washington University’s music education program is renowned for producing talented, well-rounded teachers with a passion for inspiring their students to pursue their dreams within the art form.

Since 2018, the CWU Department of Music has partnered with American Band College (ABC) to provide a program specifically for band teachers seeking to earn a master’s degree. The three-year degree, which has graduated 343 students since its inception, is unique in that it focuses on the opportunities and challenges that face modern band teachers.

ABC was founded in 1989 by Max McKee, a faculty member at Southern Oregon University. In the years since, Max’s son, Scott McKee, has taken over as CEO for the organization, and after a couple of changes in venue, he chose CWU as the program’s degree-conferring partner institution.

“We’re so happy to have connected with CWU in this partnership, as well as with the amazing people there that care so much about making this special for our students,” Scott McKee said. “I can see it in their correspondence with students—that desire to help them out and guide them every step of the way. They’re fantastic at what they do, and with their guidance, our students will be, too.”

The ABC program centers around an annual 18 days of intensive courses held in Ashland, Oregon, complemented by online project-based instruction for the rest of the year. This hybrid model allows students from across the country, and the world, to participate. In 2024, 178 students from 40 states and five foreign countries attended the summer intensive program.

“It’s not the typical master’s program, where students have to quit teaching and devote all of their time to it,” McKee said. “We bring 20 to 25 master teachers to the summer intensive course every year, along with guest composers. Those 18 days let our students work towards their degree as they focus on their weak study areas.“

Among the master teachers are several CWU faculty members, who take turns diving deep into their respective fields for the benefit of the assembled students. The program builds on the foundation of the CWU Master’s in Music Education, which has been around since 2010, facilitated by CWU Professor of Music Bret Smith.

“This program is very keenly tuned to the needs of one specific group of music educators: those teaching bands in elementary and secondary schools,” Smith said. “These teachers need to be able to work with individual students on a broad variety of instruments, which is where ABC’s rotating focus on the specifics of each instrument comes in. The content is refined in such a way that our students get to do the deep dives that their situation demands.”

Smith said the partnership between CWU and ABC went smoothly, allowing existing ABC students to transfer their credits to CWU and continue their educations seamlessly.

“ABC is a well-known institution in the music education field, so for us at CWU, this has been a great opportunity to add their mark of quality to our own,” he said. “Our values are well aligned, and it’s been a good match.”

Personal connection has been the driving force behind the program’s success, linking graduates into an ever-expanding network of peers who they will be able to lean on for the rest of their careers.

“Once you’re in the program, you’re part of the family,” McKee said. “I always tell our students that if they need anything, they can call my cell anytime. We just want to make it the best program for directors that it can be, and camaraderie is an important part of that.”

Smith noted that access to such a network can be crucial for many band teachers.

“It can get kind of lonely, especially if you’re in a rural district, where you might be the only band instructor,” he said. “Programs like this one, where students work hard toward a common goal, help establish those vital connections for their careers.”

Thanks to word of mouth and presence at music education conferences, the American Band College at CWU program currently is close to capacity has a waiting list, and organizers anticipates another packed summer of collaborative growth this year.