The HABITS Team

Scott Rush is the team lead for the Habits series by GIA Publications and is the former Director of Bands at Wando High School in Mount Pleasant, SC. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and the University of South Carolina. He currently serves as co-conductor of the Charleston Wind Symphony, a semi-professional ensemble in Charleston, South Carolina.

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John Nieto is the mariachi director at Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, a position he has held since 1990. He also serves as the lead mariachi instructor for San Antonio ISD, of which he is a graduate. He currently serves as arranger/copyist/instructor for the Albuquerque Mariachi Spectacular (21 years) and previously taught at similar workshops in Tucson, Arizona, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. John has been a guest clinician for Region Mariachi clinics throughout the state of Texas.

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Jeff Scott is the former Director of Bands at Cario Middle School in Mount Pleasant, SC, where held that position from 2001 until his retirement in 2023. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and received a Master of Instrumental Music in Conducting at Southern Oregon University. He was awarded National Board Certification in 2005 and 2015. In 2020, he was named Phi Beta Mu “South Carolina Bandmaster of the Year”.

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Dr. Christopher Selby is a 30-year veteran public school orchestra teacher, and he is the lead string author of the Habits of a Successful String Musician method book series published by GIA. He is an active clinician and conductor, and has presented sessions at numerous Midwest Clinics, American String Teacher Association (ASTA) National Conferences, and state conferences across America. Dr. Selby currently directs the high school orchestras at the School of the Arts in Charleston, SC. His orchestras have performed at the Midwest Clinic and have twice won the top award of Grand Champion at ASTA’s National Orchestra Festival.

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Margaret Selby is the orchestra director and 2020 Teacher of the Year at Laing Middle School in Charleston County (SC) where her program grew from 42 to 215 students in five years. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and her Master’s degree in Music Performance from the University of South Carolina. Mrs. Selby’s orchestras have participated in SCMEA Concert Performance Assessment and other festivals in the southeast, earning superior ratings.

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Eric Wilkinson is the director of the Wando High School Choir program in Charleston, South Carolina. Wilkinson’s choirs have consistently earned superior ratings at state and national choral festivals and have performed in Carnegie Hall, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Washington National Cathedral. His pursuit of excellence in teaching and conducting has taken him to London, Vienna, Varna, New York City, and Medomak, Maine. Wilkinson has served on the SCMEA All-State committee for ten years and chaired the audition process for four years. Wilkinson’s choirs have been invited to perform for SCMEA and ACDA conventions.

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Kevin Boyle is in his sixteenth year of teaching instrumental music and his first year as the Associate Director of Bands at Tapp Middle School in Powder Springs, GA. He is also the Percussion Director for McEachern High School. Prior to arriving at Tapp, he taught middle school band and percussion in both Georgia and South Carolina. Mr. Boyle’s ensembles have received consistent Superior ratings at Large Group Performance Evaluation.

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Marguerite Wilder is widely recognized as a conductor and clinician, having conducted honor bands throughout the United States, Canada, England, Italy, Turkey, and Australia. Serving as a resource person for in-service sessions, she works with both local and regional school systems and universities. Her clinics on motivational techniques for beginning band are often featured at state and national conventions, including the Midwest Band and Orchestra Conference.

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Dr. Mary Land is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Music Education at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She conducts the University Concert Band and teaches courses in instrumental music education. Prior to this position, she was Director of Bands and Instrumental Music Education at Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia. Before moving to higher education, Dr. Land was a public-school band director in Georgia for over twenty-five years where she developed an outstanding band program in Pickens County, Georgia. Bands under Mary Land’s direction have received invitations to perform at numerous music conferences and clinics.

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Linard H. McCloud is a 1972 alumnus of Burke High School in Charleston, SC. In 1976, he received his BS in Music Education from Florida A&M University. Immediately following graduation, he was awarded the William P. Foster Scholarship to attend the University of Kansas, but decided to further his studies at the University of Iowa on a full fellowship, where he received his MA in Music Education.

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Sarah Ball has been teaching orchestra for twenty seven years, currently at North Gwinnett Middle School in Sugar Hill, Ga, where she is one of two orchestra directors. The NGMS orchestra program has 575 students enrolled in grades 6-8. The 8th grade orchestra was selected to perform at GMEA in January (2012 and 2024), and received the GMEA Exemplary Performance Award in 2009 and 2015. In December 2013, the NGMS Honor Orchestra was one of three middle school orchestras selected internationally to perform in Chicago, Illinois at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, and has performed at Carnegie Hall. The NGMS music department was awarded the inaugural Exemplary Program Award from GMEA (2017-18).

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