Huntington High School band director Jason Giachetti recently made a presentation at the National Association for Music Education’s national conference in Dallas, Texas.
Teachers from across the nation gathered at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center for three days of workshops and seminars.
Titled Snare Drum: From the First Lesson to the College Audition, Mr. Giachetti’s workshop offered an in-depth and detailed study of snare drum pedagogy. Session topics included equipment, technique, exercises, stroke patterns, hand development and coordination, sequential learning of rudiments, and literature.
“Not only did Jason present his work, he had the opportunity to participate in focused professional development related to all aspects of music education,” said Eric Reynolds, Huntington UFSD director of fine and performing arts.
The National Association for Music Education is among the world’s largest arts education organizations. “It advocates at the local, state, and national levels; provides resources for teachers, parents and administrators; hosts professional development events; and offers a variety of opportunities for students and teachers,” according to the organization’s website. “The association orchestrates success for millions of students nationwide and has supported music educators at all teaching levels for more than a century.”
Mr. Giachetti will also be making a presentation at the New York State School Music Association’s All-State Winter Conference in Rochester. That presentation, titled Arranging for the Front Ensemble, will highlight music composition techniques for the marching band front ensemble or pit and will include mallet percussion instruments, auxiliary percussion and keyboards.
A Huntington music teacher since September 2000, Mr. Giachetti is a graduate of Massapequa High School. He obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at SUNY Potsdam and the Crane School of Music and Hofstra University, respectively. He is currently pursuing a doctorate of musical arts in percussion performance at Five Towns College. He has served as the Huntington Blue Devil marching band director and in a number of other positions with the group. He teaches AP Music Theory, directs the high school jazz ensemble and the senior symphonic band.
Mr. Giachetti has guest conducted the SCMEA Division 2 and Division 3 All-County Band. He currently serves as the co-chair for the Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association's Day of Percussion. He is also an active clinician and has presented at national and state conferences, the Society of Ethics in Education symposium and at the Crane School of Music and Five Towns College.
