John Christian, Music Educator John Christian is the newly appointed Director of University Bands at the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia. Prior to his current appointment, he served as a PK-12 Fine Arts Chair and Music Educator at schools Kazakhstan, Morocco, and the United States. He has also held higher education posts at Southern Catholic College, Barry University, Alma College, Kazakh National Conservatory and the State University of New York at Buffalo. Mr. Christian has been a Guest Conductor at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial – Pearl Harbor, the Australian Band and Orchestra Association Convention in Melbourne, Australia, the NAfME National Convention in Minneapolis, MN, Georgian National Conservatory-Tbilisi, Kazakh National Conservatory-Almaty, college, and universities. Mr. Christian has been an active conductor and adjudicator for festivals at Hard Rock Live, Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. In 2013, he conducted a series of chamber wind concerts with performers of the Atlanta Symphony and the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics. Mr. Christian has also conducted honor ensembles, clinics and lectured at higher education institutions on Music Education on Independent/Parochial School in ten states, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He served three terms as a National Instrumental Music Teacher Mentor for NAfME and was nominated to the Advisory Board for the Music Educators Journal in 2010-11 school year. John earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Master of Arts from Central Michigan University. He also has done post-graduate study in Instrumental Conducting and Music Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His mentors include Dr. Glenn Hayes and John Williamson.