Margaret Underwood

Biography

Dr. Margaret Underwood is Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Western Carolina University where she conducts the Wind Ensemble, guides all aspects of the wind bands, and teaches courses in music education. Dr. Underwood maintains an active guest conducting schedule, conducting performances across the United States. Ensembles under her direction have performed at state and international conferences and she has conducted at the College Band Directors National Association Northcentral Regional Conference. In addition to her presentations at numerous state conferences, she has also presented her research at the College Band Directors National Association Regional and National Conferences, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles International Conference, the US Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, and the International Society for Research and Promotion of Wind Music. Her research on Robert Kurka’s <i>The Good Soldier Schweik Suite</i> is published in <i>The Journal of World Association of Band and Symphonic Ensembles</i>. <br> <br>Prior to her current appointment she served as Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. Previously, she served as the Assistant Director of Bands at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania and taught middle and high school band for several years in New York.<br> <br>An advocate for new music, her ensembles have commissioned works by composers such as Julia Wolfe, James Stephenson, and Dan Welcher, as well as premiering works by Paul Osterfield, Jenny Merkowitz, Andrew Hannon, and a recently discovered work by Russian composer Alexander Alyabyev.

Education

• DMA, University of Minnesota-Minneapolis
• MM, Ohio State University, Performance/Wind Conducting
• BME, SUNY College Fredonia

Teaching Interests

Wind Ensemble<br>Conducting<br>Music Education

Research Interests

<i>The Good Soldier Schweik Suite</i> by Robert Kurka<br>Chamber wind societies<br>US military bands