BETHANY ROBINSON
BASSIST EDUCATOR CLINICIAN
01 bio
GRAMMY Music Educator Award Finalist and Yamaha Performing Artist Bethany Robinson currently serves as the Director of Jazz at Purdue University and the annual Purdue Jazz Festival, the largest college run jazz festival in the US.
During her time as a high school band director in Noblesville, IN, Bethany received her first Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant, and traveled to New Orleans and New York City, exploring the current trends of jazz in those two cities. She attended the Band Director Academy at Jazz at Lincoln Center, composed her first piece for big band, and came home to Noblesville High School with a whole new concept of jazz pedagogy at the secondary level. Putting her new-found inspiration into practice, her jazz program at Noblesville expanded from 1 to 6 high school big bands over the next 10 years, and the top band made regular appearances at the ISSMA Indiana Jazz State Finals, becoming the state honor band in 2023, receiving first place finishes at both Ball State and Purdue University Jazz Festivals, and was a 2-time finalist for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Festival and Competition in New York City.
Outside the classroom, Bethany spends her time presenting at conferences, working with many student ensembles each year, mentoring band directors to build dynamic jazz culture in their classrooms, directing honor bands, co-leading Jazz Girls Day in different places, and performing around the globe. As an avid performer on upright bass, electric bass, and vocals, Bethany has performed locally and around the globe with many artists including Todd Williams, Everett Greene, Sarah Scharbrough, Brenda Williams, Monika Herzig, Katherine Nagy, and has opened 3 times for YAMAHA Artist Dave Koz.
Awards:
GRAMMY Music Educator Award Finalist
3x GRAMMY Music Educator Award Nominee
Indiana Jazz Educator of the Year
Teacher of the Year, Noblesville (IN) Schools
Indiana Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist
Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Hero
Indiana High School Music Educator of the Year
Lilly Creative Teaching Fellow #1 (Exploring Jazz in NOLA & NYC)
Lilly Creative Teaching Fellow #2 (Exploring Jazz in Brazil)
Service:
Director of Jazz, Purdue University
Executive Board, Jazz Education Network
Member, GRAMMY Recording Academy
Immediate Past Chair, National Association for Music Educator Council for Jazz Education
Past-President, Indiana Jazz Educators Association
Leadership/Impact/Program Development:
Created Indiana All-District Jazz Annual Event
Created Annual Junior All-State Jazz Ensemble
Indiana All-State Jazz Combo Featured Concert at Indy Jazz Fest
Co-Leads Annual Indiana Jazz Girls Day
Guest University Lectures:
Ball State University
Indiana University
Butler University
Vanderbilt University
Purdue Fort Wayne
All State Jazz Conductor:
New York
Iowa
North Carolina (MS)
South Carolina (Combo & HS)
Missouri
Jazz Camp Clinician:
Jazz Camp West
Butler University Summer Jazz Camp
Music For All Jazz Camp
Guest Adjudicator:
Essentially Ellington Regionals
(Newark, Orlando, North Carolina)
Butler Jazz Festival
Ball State University Jazz Festival
Purdue Ft. Wayne Jazz Festival
Mt. Hood Jazz Festival
Southeast Missouri State University
Elizabeth City State University
Western Australian Schools' Jazz Festival, Perth
Victoria Schools' Jazz Festival, Melbourne
Presentations:
Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic
Midwest Band Clinic, Jazz Pre-Conference
Australia National Band & Orchestra Conference (keynote)
New York State Summer Music Conference (keynote)
Glasgow Teacher Workshops, BBC Scotland Symphony Hall
Music for All National Festival
Music for All Summer Directors Academy
Indiana Music Educators Conference
Oklahoma Bandmasters Summer Convention
Band Leader Appearances:
Carmel Jazz Fest
Victoria Schools' Jazz Festival, Melbourne
Grove City Music Festival
02 shows
July 6-10
Clinician
Butler University
Jazz Camp
Indianapolis, IN
July 8
Bassist
Monika Herzig Quartet
Eagle Creek Concert Series
Indianapolis, IN
July 11
Bassist/Vocalist
Eric Baker Band
Private Event
Ninevah, Indiana
July 25-26
Bassist
Mt. Pleasant CC
Greenwood, IN
July 30
Bassist
Monika Herzig Band
Animals & All That Jazz
Indianapolis Zoo
July 31
Bassist/Vocalist
Eric Baker Band
Lafayette, IN
August 1
Bassist/Vocalist
Eric Baker Band
Lake Maxinkuckee, IN
August 7
Bassist/Vocalist
Sarah Scharbrough Band
Private Event
Indianapolis, IN
August 13
Bassist
Eric Baker Trio
Westfield, IN
September 3
Bassist
Todd Williams Quartet
The Tarkington
Carmel, IN
October 2
Bassist/Vocalist/Flute
Eric Baker Band
Feinstein's at Hotel Carmichael
Carmel, IN
October 9-17
Bassist
Monika Herzig Transparent Project
Germany & Estonia
03 music & media
MEDIA
Noblesville HS "Road to Essentially Ellington" 2022
YAMAHA: Education as Foundation
Noblesville HS 2022 Essentially Ellington Performance
BANDS/GUEST APPEARANCES
Sarah Scharbrough-Video
Monika Herzig's Sheroes-Video
Katherine Nagy Music- Video
Everett Greene- Video
Groove Essential
Brenda Williams
Jennie DeVoe
Shed Zeppelin
Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra
Kokomo Park Band Big Band
Carmel Symphony Orchestra
Anderson Symphony Orchestra
DOCUMENTARY APPEARANCES
(Jazz Legend/Civil Rights Leader Dr. Marvin Chandler)
(Women In Jazz, Indiana Girls Day)
BOOKINGS
For Speaking/Clinics/Music Inquiries
Click "CONTACT" tab
04 jazz education
Whether teaching one of her school's 6 big bands, or serving on state or national jazz organization boards, Bethany has a passion for jazz education. She spends her time working with and bringing in professionals to work with her students, sharing the stories of her classroom with the community and around the world through conferences, and lending resources to anyone interested in increasing their comfort level in front of a jazz band. She has developed an extensive warm-up package including engaging students in singing, dancing, long-tones, different scale modes, tuning, quoting blues vocabulary, and a variety of options integrating improvisation, student engagement, and leadership development into the daily rehearsal.
In addition to her own classroom, Bethany has partnered with Monika Herzig to organize the annual Indiana Jazz Girls Day, a series of free concerts and clinics for girls grades 7-12 around the state with other guest musicians from Indiana, New York City, and California. She has contributed articles to publications including the Indiana MEA "INform" Magazine (Vol 75, Issue 3), the NAfME "Teaching Music" Magazine (January 2022), and was featured alongside other jazz educators in the April/May 2022 edition of the "Instrumentalist" national publication. In the "Play Jazz" method book series by Josh Weirich and Ryan Fraley, Bethany contributed the chapter on bass tips for young players.
Bethany is a Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow, and has the distinguished honor of earning 2 coveted grants. Her grants took her to New York City & New Orleans in 2011, and to Salvador & Rio de Janeiro in 2019. The experiences during both grants have transformed and propelled her teaching with new approaches, genres, techniques, and even renewed love for the craft of teaching.
As a result of her 2011 New York City grant, Bethany discovered the Band Director Academy at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where she discovered a new world of jazz pedagogy, and returned to Noblesville High School to build a jazz band from 1 to 6 bands, 5 time qualifier for the Indiana Jazz State Finals, placed 2nd at the 2021 & 2022 National Jazz Festival, and was a 2021 & 2022 Essentially Ellington Festival Finalist. Jazz 1 was also named the Honor Band at the 2023 ISSMA Jazz State Finals.
