Meet the Authors
Mary Land
Mary Land is the Associate Professor Music Education at Western Michigan University. Prior to this appointment, she was Director of Bands and Instrumental Music Education at Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia. Before those positions, Land was a public-school band director in Georgia. She received her Educational Doctorate from the University of Georgia. Land received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Georgia and her Master of Music Education degree from Vandercook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois. She has served the Georgia Music Educators Association in various state and local offices. Her professional affiliations include: MSBOA, NAfME, IAJE, CBDNA, and Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Professional Teacher Association. Land is a member of the National Band Association and has served as a national representative on the NBA executive board of directors
Many professional awards and recognitions have been awarded Land during her career. She has recently been presented with The Distinguished Alumni Award from the Vandercook College of Music. Land has been featured in many issues of the Instrumentalist magazine discussing her teaching techniques and her band program in the public schools and her band program at Young Harris College. She has been presented the National Band Association Citation of Excellence on twelve separate occasions and has been presented the Women Band Directors International Scroll of Excellence five times. Land was awarded the GMEA Music Educator of the Year Award for 2012 and was presented with the John Philip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor Awardat the 2012 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic for her contributions to music education. Land was selected by the national publication School Band and Orchestrain their December 2013 issue as one of “50 Directors Who make a Difference”.
Land is published in the journals for the National Band Association, The Instrumentalist, Teaching Music (NAfME), School Band and Orchestra Journal, and the GIA series Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Commissioning projects include works by Sam Hazo, Bill Locklear, Barry Kopetz, and Christopher Tucker. Bands under Land’s direction have received invitations to perform at many music conferences and clinics.
Scott Rush
Scott Rush is the team lead for the Habits series by GIA Publications and is the former Director of Bands at Wando High School in Mount Pleasant, SC. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and the University of South Carolina. He currently serves as co-conductor of the Charleston Wind Symphony, a semi-professional ensemble in Charleston, South Carolina.
Under his direction, the Wando Symphonic Band performed at the 2007 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and were recipients of the 2007 Sudler Flag of Honor administered by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. His marching bands were two-time BOA Grand National finalist.
Mr. Rush is active as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States and Canada. He is the author and co-author of fourteen highly touted books, some of which include: Habits of A Successful Band Director, Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician, Habits of a Successful Musician, Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician, Habits of a Successful Middle School Musician, The Evolution of a Successful Band Director, Habits of a Successful Middle School Band Director, Habits of a Significant Band Director and Pathway to Success for GIA Publications. Mr. Rush has served as President of the South Carolina Band Directors Association and is a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Band Association. In 2010, Mr. Rush was elected into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association and in 2011 was awarded the Bandworld “Legion of Honor.” In 2016, he was awarded the Edwin Franko Goldman Award by the ASBDA for contributions to music education.