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Scott Casagrande (Arlington Heights, IL) Scott J. Casagrande was Director of Bands at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois and retired in June 2021 after completing 33 years of teaching in Illinois Public Schools. He taught high school, middle school, and elementary students in suburban, urban, and rural settings over the course of his teaching career.
Mr. Casagrande currently serves as the conductor of the Chicago-based Merit Conservatory of Music Wind Symphony, an honor group made up of pre-collegiate high school musicians. He also serves Music for All as a Music Education Consultant and National Festival Coordinator, as well as Coordinator of Affiliate Regional Music Festivals and Affiliate Regional Marching Events. He serves as an administrator for the Music Education Alliance and the Dr. William P. Foster Project involving the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, and Music for All, serving bands in underserved communities.
He is a Past President of the National Band Association and served the NBA as a member of the Executive Committee for eight years. Mr. Casagrande has been nominated and inducted into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association as well as the Phi Beta Mu International Band Fraternity and American School Band Directors Association.
Ensembles under Mr. Casagrande’s direction have performed as a featured ensemble in the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Convention (Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble). They were selected to perform in 24 Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festivals, two Illinois Music Education Association Conventions, and four Music for All National Concert Band Festivals. The Hersey Symphonic Band was named the Illinois SuperState Concert Band Festival Honor Band four times, and the band program was awarded the Sudler Flag of Honor by the Sousa Foundation, which is an international award recognizing high school concert bands of outstanding musical excellence.