The Heart of Teaching Music Podcast

Dr. Julia Baumanis is Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Bands at Rutgers University and is the first female instrumental conductor at Rutgers University in its 258-year history. Her duties include serving as the Conductor of the Rutgers Symphony Band, instructor of Undergraduate and Graduate Conducting courses, serving the Associate Director of the Marching Scarlet Knights/Director of Pep Bands, and teaching instrumental music education courses. Prior to this appointment, she served as the Assistant Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands at the University of Central Missouri.

She serves on the WASBE repertoire committee, on Music For All’s Educational Advisory Team, and is the co-Author of GO ON, Tell Your Story! Voices of Women Band Directors, a book that features the shared experiences of over 100 women band directors, published by GIA Publications. In 2023, she was appointed Artistic Director of the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra, a professional orchestra serving the New Brunswick, New Jersey area for the past 62 years. A graduate of The Florida State University College of Music, Baumanis received her bachelor’s in Instrumental Music Education, her master’s degree in Instrumental Conducting, and her PhD in Music Education and Instrumental Conducting. Prior to graduate school, she taught public school in Florida as the Associate Director of Bands and Orchestras at J.P. Taravella High School and the Director of Orchestras at Ramblewood Middle School.

An active performer, educator and researcher, she has presented her research internationally, including at the NAfME Research Symposium, the CBDNA National Conference and The Midwest Clinic. Most recently, her research has focused on developing a conductor’s baton that records data collected from a conductor’s expressive gestures. She hopes to implement this technology in the conducting classroom as a technological tool to assist beginning conductors in developing their craft.

Dr. Scott N. Edgar (he/him) has dedicated his career to highlighting the potential music education and educators have to build life skills students will utilize long after they leave the classroom. As a notable authority on music education and Social Emotional Learning, Edgar has emerged as the leading researcher, best-selling author, and internationally sought-after clinician on the subject.

He is the author of Music Education and Social Emotional Learning: The Heart of Teaching Music, The ABCs of My Feelings and Music (co-authored with his wife Stephanie), and editor of Portraits of Music Education and Social Emotional Learning (published through GIA Publications).

Edgar prioritizes facilitating spaces where people can explore their identity, build a sense of belonging, and experience agency. He is grateful for the many experiences he has had at Bowling Green State University (B.M.E.), University of Dayton, (M.S.), and the University of Michigan (Ph.D.) to learn from his mentors. He is Associate Professor of Music, Chair of the Department of Music, and Director of Bands at Lake Forest College, Social Emotional Learning Editor for GIA Publications, and serves as Director of Practice and Research for The Center for Arts Education and Social Emotional Learning.

Edgar is also an educational consultant for Music for All and Save the Music Foundation. Striving for work/life balance, he enjoys grilling, exercising, and spending time with his wife, Steph, their son Nathan, and their rescue golden retriever, Aria, and rescue cats, Violet and Clover.