Music Program Leaders Colloquium—Support, Sustain, Survive: The Potential Impact of Music Program Leaders on Early Career Music Teachers

At the April 2025 NAfME Music Program Leaders Forum, teams of music program leaders worked to identify actionable steps that could be taken by music program leaders to put ideas from A Blueprint for Strengthening the Music Teaching Profession into effect. Whether your interests lie with future teachers who have not entered a degree program yet, future teachers who are currently enrolled in their degree program, or current young teachers in the first years of their professional life, this colloquium is an opportunity to share with you the findings of our teamwork at the Forum. Join us for an important discussion that could help music program leaders have a real impact on early-career music teachers. 

Scott M. 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 six consecutive years. Prior to his appointment at the district level, Mr. Burgener was the band director at Mountain View High School in Mesa for 18 of his 25 years in high school music education. During his tenure at Mountain View, his bands consistently received high ratings both in and out of state. He is a Past-President of the Arizona Music Educators Association (AMEA) and the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA). He has been recognized with AMEA’s George C. Wilson Leadership/Service Award, one of SBO magazine’s “50 Teachers Who Make a Difference,” and the National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence Award. He is the director of the Fountain Hills Community Band, and has served as a guest conductor and clinician for several honor bands in the metro Phoenix area. 

NAfME presents this live virtual event at no charge to all as a service to the music education profession. To register, you must enter your NAfME member information or create a nonmember account. After registering, check your email for instructions. A recording of this program will be available to all registrants for one week following the live event. Members can also view archived NAfME webinars in the NAfME Academy.

The views expressed are those of the presenter; they do not necessarily reflect the views of NAfME.