DIRECTORS AND INSTRUCTORS
The Houston Band is an award-winning high school band led by an award-winning group of directors and instructors under the direction of Mr. Matthew Taylor and Kevin Carpenter.
MATT TAYLOR
DIRECTOR
Matt Taylor is the band director at Houston High School. Prior to his arrival at Houston, he served as director of bands at Cordova High School. While at Cordova, the band won many class and division championships. The wind ensemble received superior ratings at concert festival. He has also been a member of the instructional staff at Arlington High School, serving as arranger, visual technician, and music instructor. In addition he has experience teaching middle school band and choir at Woodstock Middle School and Millington Middle School. Mr. Taylor graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree in Music Education.
Mr. Taylor studied wind conducting under Dr. Nicholas Holland, Dr. Kraig Williams, and Dr. Sidney McKay. While in college, Mr. Taylor also studied trumpet pedagogy with Dr. David Spencer. He has performed internationally in Marktoberdorf, Germany and Salzburg, Austria. He also served as trumpet section leader for the Mighty Sound of the South. He is an active consultant, clinician, and arranger in the Mid-South Region. He is a member of WTSBOA and NAfME.
KEVIN CARPENTER
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Kevin Carpenter is the Assitant Band Director of the Houston Band at Houston High School. He is the inaugural conductor of the Memphis Youth Symphony Program's Concert Band and a freelance conductor and clinician in the area.
Before beginning work as a band director, he attended the University of Memphis’s Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, acquiring his BM in K-12 Instrumental Music Education.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, he spent thousands of hours creating virtual performance opportunities for his ensembles and others’. Performances include the Memphis Area Virtual Youth Choir's performance of Tichelli's Earth Song, Memphis ChoralArts "4corners4peace" concert, Memphis-Shelby County School's "State of the District" Honor Choir performance of "North" by Sleeping At Last, and the performances of dozens of other organizations, helping thousands of musicians reach audiences of tens of thousands around the world.
He is deeply involved in local music, singing in various choirs and serving on the Board of Directors for Memphis ChoralArts. He is a member of the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, the Tennessee Music Education Association, and the National Association of Music Education.
DAVID WOHLSCHLEGEL
CONCERT BAND DIRECTOR
BRANDON SMITH
DRUM LINE INSTRUCTOR
BRITTANY ROBERTS
GUARD INSTRUCTOR
SHAWN YOUNKIN
VISUAL INSTRUCTOR
JACOB HARGROVE
PERCUSSION INSTRUCTOR
