Description
Conn Selmer Educational and Marching Arts Clinician
Amanda Drinkwater currently serves as Director of Fine Arts for the Lewisville Independent School District. Lewisville ISD includes 61 campuses designated into five feeder patterns: Flower Mound, Hebron, Lewisville, Marcus, and The Colony High Schools. LISD schools are located within 127 square miles approximately twenty-five miles Northwest of Dallas, Texas.
Ms. Drinkwater formerly served twenty-three years as a Texas music educator, with teaching opportunities at Leander High School, The Colony High School, and Marcus High School. She received her academic training at Louisiana State University and at the University of Kansas in Music Education and Instrumental Conducting, respectively.
Ms. Drinkwater’s concert bands consistently earned superior division ratings at the University Interscholastic League Concert & Sight Reading contests. Under her direction the Marcus Wind Symphony was named a TMEA Honor Band finalist in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014, and performed as the TMEA 5A Honor Band at the 2015 TMEA Convention in San Antonio, Texas. The Marcus Wind Symphony was a featured ensemble at the Midwest Band and Orchestra clinic in 2007 and 2012 and was recognized five times as a National Wind Band Honors finalist. Ms. Drinkwater’s marching ensembles earned eleven consecutive trips to the 5A/6A Texas State UIL Marching Contest and were consistent Bands of America finalists and recipients of various caption honors. In 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 (5A), and 2014 (6A) the Marcus Marching Band earned the UIL Texas State Marching Championship, and in 2016, the group earned third place at the State Marching Band Contest. The program was awarded the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Shield for excellence in marching band performance and the Sudler Flag for excellence in concert band performance in 2008 and 2014 respectively.
Ms. Drinkwater is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, the Texas Bandmasters Association, and the American Bandmasters Association. She has been the recipient of the Music Educators National Conference ‘Excellence in Teaching Music’ Award (2009), the Bayard H. Friedman ‘Hero’ Award for contributions to Music Education in Texas (2011), and the UIL Sponsor of Excellence (2015). Ms. Drinkwater was named the 2020 ‘Texas Bandmaster of the Year’ by the Texas Bandmasters Association.