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Lafe Cook
Lafe Cook

Role(s):

Bands of America Adjudicator

Specialties:

Affiliations:

Lafe Cook (Kingsport, Tennessee) has been a high school band director for 33 years and is in his 27th year as the Director of the Dobyns-Bennett Band in Kingsport, Tennessee. Under Cook’s direction, the Dobyns-Bennett Marching Band has been a three-time Bands of America Class AAA Grand National Champion as well as a Bands of America Regional and Super Regional Champion. The Dobyns-Bennett Band has appeared in four Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parades, three Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parades, and the Presidential Inaugural Parade. The marching band is a 2014 recipient of the John Philip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Shield. The Dobyns-Bennett Wind Symphony has performed at The Midwest Clinic, the American Bandmasters Association Convention, the Music for All National Festival, and at the Tennessee Music Education Association Conference on six occasions. Cook holds degrees from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where he was drum major of the “Pride of the Southland” Marching Band and a graduate assistant with the music department. He is a past president of the Tennessee Music Education Association, the Tennessee Bandmasters Association, and the East Tennessee Band and Orchestra Association. Cook currently serves on the Bands of America Advisory Committee, served two terms on the Board of Directors of the National Band Association, and is a five-time recipient of the National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence. He was also honored by the John Philip Sousa Foundation as a Sudler Flag of Honor Laureate and was named “Aide de Camp” to the Governor of the State of Tennessee. Cook has been a clinician for regional, state, and university honor ensembles across the country. He has also presented professional development sessions at The Midwest Clinic and multiple state music education conventions. Cook was elected into the American Bandmasters Association in 2008.