Thomas Priest, Ed.D., serves as Director of Music Education
at Weber State University where he teaches courses on music, education,
and bassoon and supervises individuals completing student teaching
internships. His work as a researcher, teacher, performer, and composer
continues to inform his professional practice. Dr. Priest has actively
pursued a research agenda that examines how individuals function creatively
as performers, listeners, improvisers and composers. His peer-reviewed
articles on creativity have been published in Contributions to
Music Education, The Journal of Research in Music Education, The Music
Educators
Journal, Psychology of Music, and The Bulletin of the Council
for Research in Music Education. He has been elected to serve
as Chair of the Special Research Interest Group on Creativity of the
Music Educators National
Conference. He currently serves as Vice-President of Higher Education
on the Utah Music Educators Association’s Executive Board.
As
an avid bassoonist, Dr. Priest previously served as Principal Bassoonist
with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Co-principal Bassoonist
with the Santiago Philharmonic. He regularly performs with Weber State
Faculty,
Ballet West and the Utah Chamber Orchestra as well as with other
musicians and dancers in Northern Utah. He previously collaborated
with Erik
Stern and Aaron Chavez on Steel, Box, and Reeds and
premiered his own
Reminiscent Rains with Percussionist, Don Keipp, in 2005
Before joining the
faculty at Weber State he served on the faculties of The Ohio
State University and Millikin University. Obtaining
a grant from the Whirlpool Corporation, he coordinated and performed
in a series of interactive educational programs with Winds of the Heart
in the Ohio public schools (2000-2001). Formerly
a resident of Colorado, he taught
in the public schools as a music specialist in the Boulder Valley
School District and the Gunnison Watershed School District. Before
returning
to the United States in 1988, he served as a music specialist
at the Anglican International School of Jerusalem.
He holds
a Bachelor
of Music Education degree from Indiana University-Bloomington,
a Masters of Music degree in Bassoon from the University of Colorado-Boulder,
and a Doctorate in Education with an emphasis in music from the
University
of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana. Additionally he studied Orff-Schulwerk
at the University of Northern Colorado. While completing his doctorate,
he taught music at the University Laboratory School (Holy Cross
School) coordinating field experiences for pre-service music teachers
working
with children.
Besides
his peer reviewed publications, Dr. Priest has contributed to The
Kodaly Envoy and The Double Reed. He also contributed
to Dimensions
of Musical Learning and Teaching, published by MENC, with
his chapter Thinking
Processes in a Different Kind of Classroom. He
has offered clinics and lectures on music teaching and learning
throughout the United States
as well as overseas.
