Is Anybody Listening?: A Candid Conversation about Music Advocacy

What’s it really like to go out and advocate for your music program? As a follow up to our colloquium this past May, the Council of Music Program Leaders invites you to join us for a lively and down-to-the-nitty-gritty conversation about music advocacy. Whether you’re focusing advocacy efforts toward your school or district administration, the school board, or the local community, there will be something that everyone can take away from this session. Our lively and engaging discussion will make you think about the most effective forms of advocacy, encouraging you to get the most bang for your buck. Attendees will have the chance to submit questions in advance that may be addressed by Scott Lang during the session.

Please take this survey before the Colloquium, preferably by August 26.

For more than three decades Scott Lang has been educating and advocating for music education. As a nationally known leadership trainer, Scott conducts over 100 workshops annually and works with some of our country’s finest educational groups and performing ensembles. Scott is a well-regarded author with over ten publications to his credit, including; Seriously?!, Leader of the Band, Leadership Success, Leadership Travel Guide, Leadership Survival Guide, Sound Leadership, Music FUNdations, and is the creator of the highly successful Be Part of the Music series. Scott is also currently serving as the Director of Advocacy for Music & Arts, the nation’s largest music retailer. Scott currently resides in Chandler, Arizona, with his beautiful wife Leah and their sons, Brayden, Evan, and their highly irrational but loveable Golden Retrievers Rexie and Riley. He has breathed in and out approximately 264 million times and plans to keep on doing so until he doubles that number.

Scott Burgener is currently the Music Education Department Specialist for the Mesa Public Schools in Mesa, Arizona, overseeing the district’s K-12 music program for over 60,000 students. The Mesa Public Schools music program has been recognized as a “Best Community for Music Education” by the NAMM foundation for the past seven consecutive years. Prior to his appointment to this position, he was a high school band director in Arizona for 25 years. He is a Past President of the Arizona Music Educators Association, as well as the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association. He currently serves as the chair for the NAfME Council of Music Program Leaders. In addition to his duties in the Mesa Public Schools, he serves as the director of the Fountain Hills Community Band, and he has served as a guest conductor for a variety of honor bands in the Phoenix metro area.