Bethany Robinson

Bethany Robinson is a Yamaha Performing Artist, 2022 GRAMMY Music Educator Award Finalist, NAfME Jazz Council Chair, President of the Indiana Jazz Educators Association, and serves on the Jazz Education Network Board. She is currently the Jazz Band Director for Noblesville Schools in Noblesville, Indiana. Since 2010, the jazz program has expanded from 1 to 6 bands, and the top jazz ensemble qualified for the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival in 2021 and 2022, and was awarded the 2023 ISSMA Honor Jazz Band for the state of Indiana.

Robinson was the 2014 Indiana Jazz Educator of the Year, 2015 Noblesville Teacher of the Year, 2016 Indiana Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist, named a 2022 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association, and the 2023 Indiana Outstanding High School Music Educator of the Year. She is a 2-time Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow, receiving grants to study jazz and culture in both the US (2011) and Brazil (2019). Each spring, Bethany helps to lead Indiana Jazz Girls Day, hosting workshops and side-by-side concerts for students around the state of Indiana to elevate student leaders through jazz.

Bethany was a keynote speaker for the 2021 Australia National Band and Orchestra Conference, presenter at the 2021 Indiana Music Educator Association Conference, the 2022 International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, and the 2023 Oklahoma  and New York State Band Conferences. She is a clinician and adjudicator independently and for Jazz at Lincoln Center, and an avid performer on upright bass, electric bass, and vocals. (2023)

“Jazz education is not just about teaching students how to play instruments; it’s about teaching them how to express themselves, how to find their own voice, and how to be creative in any situation.” – Pat Metheny