Dr. Catherine Rand

Dr. Catherine Rand

Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music
The University of Southern Mississippi

  Biography

Dr. Catherine Rand is the Director of Bands at the University of Southern Mississippi where she conducts the Wind Ensemble, teaches graduate wind conducting, and guides all facets of the University of Southern Mississippi’s comprehensive band program. Prior to her appointment at The University of Southern Mississippi, she served as the Director of Bands at Florida International University and the University of South Carolina Aiken.

Dr. Rand received her Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Tampa, Master of Music in conducting from the University of South Florida, and Doctor of Musical Arts in wind conducting from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Prior to her collegiate teaching career, she taught band and orchestra in the Florida public school system for 15 years.

Active in scholarly and creative endeavors, Dr. Rand has presented numerous workshops to music educators on festival preparation, rehearsal techniques, meaningful conducting gestures, and building curriculum for band programs. She has conducted numerous honor bands and All-State ensembles including working with the Third Marine Aircraft Wind Band and their conductors in San Diego, California. Dr. Rand was a founding member of the Creative Music Project, which promotes student-based musical creativity by providing improvisation and composition activities accompanied by technology-based, multi-disciplinary methodology. She is published in volume 5 of “A Composer’s Insight: Thoughts, Analysis and Commentary on Contemporary Masterpieces for Wind Band,” and in the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band Series, distributed by GIA Publications. 

Dr. Rand has served as an assistant producer for several commercial recordings by the NAXOS record label. Her first compact disc on the NAXOS label with the University of Southern Mississippi Wind Ensemble has an anticipated release in December 2017.
In addition to the numerous local, regional, and national events in which her ensembles have performed, most recently The University of Southern Mississippi’s Wind Ensemble, under her direction, has been chosen to perform at the Southern Regional of CBDNA in Tampa Florida in February 2018.

Dr. Rand is a strong advocate for new music. She has helped to commission new works for wind ensemble and chamber winds and premiered numerous works by contemporary composers including Joseph Schwanter, David Maslanka, Luigi Zaninelli, Paul Dooley, Anthony Barfield, and Steve Danyew.

Dr. Rand maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and guest lecturer throughout the United States and abroad. Her professional affiliations include the College Band Director’s National Association, Women Band Director’s International, National Band Association, College Music Society, Mississippi Band Master’s Association, Florida Band Master’s Association, Kappa Kappa Psi and the Music Educators National Conference.

  Session Titles

A guide to Implementing Your Rehearsal Plan

Teacher

This open rehearsal lab, with audience participation, will focus on practical solutions for everyday problems within our band programs when preparing for concert evaluation. Successful strategies for implementing your rehearsal plans will be demonstrated through the musical preparation of Nathan Hale Trilogy, by composer James Curnow, Musicworks Publication, FBA Music List, grade 3


A Survival Guide to Prepping Your Ensemble for Assessment

Teacher

The key to a successful rehearsal for assessment isn’t the student’s preparation, it is the conductor’s preparation. The purpose of this session is to provide conductors with a guide to the concert band adjudication sheet and understanding your festival music choice. We will discuss strategies for studying your score, ensemble pacing, time management, and developing rehearsal goals for a successful performance. Remember, it’s all about the music.


Balancing Artistry and Education

Teacher

“Balancing Artistry and Education” discusses the ten basic principles of effective teachers teaching habits, opportunities for professional development and personal growth within the performing arts. This workshop addresses personal growth and passion as performers paired with the day-to-day activities as effective professional educators. Whether they are musicians, artists, dancers or actors, one must feed the “personal-self”.


Conducting Master Class

Teacher

A comprehensive individualized or group study of conducting and rehearsal techniques. Emphasis is placed on physical gesture and synthesizing performance scores to form musical interpretations, and ways of developing effective artistic musical decisions.


Creating Dimensions and Indicators of Effective Music Programs Through Best Practices

Teacher

This session is an introduction to creating a set of best practices for assessment in Music Programs, drawing from both the educational-measurement literature and current practice in successful music programs. The aim and purpose of this session is to establish a resource and framework of specific measurements for young music educators using nine specific dimensions and indicators.