Session Proposals

Daniel Harbaugh serves as the Associate Director of Bands for Abilene Christian University. He directs the Concert Band, leads the Big Purple Marching Band, teaches courses within the instrumental music education curriculum, and supervises all instrumental music education clinical teachers.

Dr. Harbaugh received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting from the University of Oklahoma. He holds additional master’s degrees in instrumental conducting and percussion performance from Truman State University and educational administration from Lindenwood University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in instrumental music education from Northwest Missouri State University. His primary conducting teachers include Michael Hancock, Shanti Simon, Dan Peterson, and Al Sergel III.

In addition to serving on staff at the University of Oklahoma and Truman State University, Dr. Harbaugh taught in Missouri Public Schools for thirteen years. His ensembles consistently received the highest ratings and accolades. He has served as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the Midwest and South. In 2025, Dr. Harbaugh authored Rehearsing the Band, Volume 4, published by Meredith Music/GIA Publications.

Dr. Harbaugh is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Phi Mu Alpha, Tau Beta Sigma, and Pi Kappa Lambda.

Mr. Clay Johnson is in his 24th year in education and currently serves as Executive Director of Fine Arts for the Abilene Independent School District. In this role, he oversees the district’s comprehensive fine arts programs, supporting excellence in music, visual arts, theatre, and dance education for thousands of students.

Prior to his current position, Johnson served five years in campus administration as both an assistant principal and principal. Before transitioning to administration, he spent 14 years as Director of Bands at Cooper High School in Abilene, where his programs earned consistent recognition for musical excellence and student achievement.

Johnson holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Music Performance degree from the University of Michigan. Throughout his career, he has remained committed to fostering student success through high-quality arts education and developing opportunities for young people to grow as musicians, artists, and leaders.

We live in a time where our university music programs are being compressed while the needs of our music programs and job descriptions are being more and more broad. Are our pre-service educators fully prepared for success in their initial jobs? Harbaugh and Johnson will discuss the skills needed to get hired initially and how to have early career success.

This Session will include discussion on the following topics:
- Many collegiate programs do a good job of preparing students, but what are the areas that pre-services programs may not have time to cover? How do students overcome these?
- What experiential gaps do pre-service teachers have that may negatively impact the early parts of their career?
- What does success look like for a music educator in years 1-3?
- Why young educators are leaving the field and how we can better equip them for these challenges.
- How to win your first job!

• Lower Elementary (Grades PreK-2)
• Upper Elementary/General Music (Grades 3-5)
• Band - Middle School
• Band - Secondary
• Choral - Middle School
• Choral - Secondary
• Orchestra - Middle School
• Orchestra - Secondary
• Collegiate
• Mentorship/Beginning Teachers