Interview

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SURVEY: WOMEN BAND AND ORCHESTRA DIRECTORS

Gradually, during the last few decades, women have made their presence known in the music education field. As noted in this month's SBO Report, a recent MENC study of its membership shows that 26,388 women are teaching music in the United States, compared to 22,221 men. While female directors are found more often in elementary and middle schools and less frequently at the secondary school level, they continue to be a strong guiding force in the musical education of the nation's children.

In many cases, women band and orchestra directors are inspired to pursue their careers by other women in the field. During her undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Debbie Durham, now the associate music director at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill., was hand-picked by Joyce Thee to student-teach her high school band.