Kevin Carpenter
My name is Kevin Carpenter. I am a Memphis-based artist, teacher, and mixing engineer. I've proudly shared my love for music to my students for over a decade through classroom instruction, clinics, summer camps, private lessons, virtual performances, and more. I look forward to many more years of creating and performing.
I would love to work with and for you. Please scroll down to see some highlights of my abilities as a teacher, conductor, and technician.
Kevin Carpenter is a music educator that leads bands and choirs in and around Memphis, TN.
Mr. Carpenter is the Assistant Band Director of The Houston Band at Houston High School in Germantown, TN. Prior to that position, "Mr. C" oversaw the band programs of the Maxine Smith STEAM Academy—a National Blue Ribbon Award-winning school—and the band at East High School, in addition to coordinating the 6th-12th grade performing arts programs at the two schools. He is the inaugural conductor of the Memphis Youth Symphony Program's Concert Band and a freelance conductor and clinician in the area.
Carpenter is the music theory instructor at the University of Memphis’s Schiedt Music Extension Program, teaching 9-12 grade students with collegiate music aspirations the basics of music theory, piano, and general school of music expectations.
He attended the University of Memphis’s Rudi E. Schiedt School of Music from 2014 to 2018, acquiring his BM in K-12 Instrumental Music Education. He is currently pursuing a Master of Music Education degree from the University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, he spent thousands of hours creating virtual performance opportunities for his ensembles and others’. Performances include the Memphis Area Virtual Youth Choir's performance of Ticheli's Earth Song, Memphis ChoralArts "4corners4peace" concert, Memphis-Shelby County School's "State of the District" Honor Choir performance of "North" by Sleeping At Last, and the performances of dozens of other organizations, helping thousands of musicians reach audiences of tens of thousands around the world.
He is deeply involved in local choir and band music. He is a member of the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, the Tennessee Music Education Association, and the National Association of Music Education.
Classroom Teaching Positions
Houston High School (2023-present)
Assistant Director of Bands | Began new position at Houston High School after years of involvement in the program during summer camps.
Maxine Smith STEAM Academy (2018-2022)
Director of Bands and Performing Arts Coordinator | Oversaw transformation of performing arts program, including the creation of an exceptional choral track. Restructured “Beginning Band” class to look like students’ STEM courses, focusing on collaboration and intrinsic motivation. Coordinated fine arts program that features roughly half of our student population in performance-based classes.
T-STEM Academy @ East High School (2021-2022)
Director of Bands | Transferred from MCHS to facilitate changing needs of the district after primary location (MSSA) moved campuses to share a building with the T-STEM Academy. Restructured and rebuilt a comprehensive 6th-12th grade band program in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Middle College High School (2018-2021)
Director of Bands | Led the 9-12 band program for three years before a transfer to East High School due to campus locations moving. Formed the pep band and created opportunities for students to perform in school and with various honors organizations. Worked to receive grants that revamped band facilities.
Other Relevant Experience
Memphis Youth Symphony Program (2022-present)
Conductor, Concert Band | Built a wind track with the Memphis Youth Symphony Program as its inaugural Concert Band conductor. Showcased a diverse repertoire to students from the mid-south, including Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas students grade 5-12.
Member, Executive Board | Marketed and facilitated high-quality musical experiences for students grade 1-12 at The University of Memphis’s Annual summer camp. Served in a variety of roles, as needed—clinician, head counselor, assistant director, and data manager. Filled gaps to ensure smooth operations.
Summer at the Scheidt Music Camp (2021-present)
Owner | Created a virtual production studio to ensure performance access to musicians and audiences around the world. Created virtual performances of everything from Mozart to mariachi.
virtualPerformance.info (2020-present)
Member, Board of Directors | After deep involvement in the organization’s response to COVID-19, began a formal position on the board of MCA. Helped rebuild the nonprofit in the aftermath of COVID-19. Helped reshape outreach through more intentional social media presense.
Memphis ChoralArts (2021-2023)
Culminating performance from clinician work at The University of Memphis's Music Camp. After about four hours of rehearsal focused on musicality and emotional expression of music through film scoring, 6th-9th grade students performed this medley and a medley of Pirates of the Caribbean music.
2019 - Les Misérables Medley
Annual Highlights
The small-but-mighty Maxine Smith STEAM Academy Beginning Band performs “Lost Woods Fantasy” by JaRod Hall. Students in our band take on all types of music in our lab-style beginner class. From festival music to improvisation and everything in between, the MSSA band program shows that the “A” in “STEAM” is strong!
2020 - Lost Woods Fantasy
Due to COVID precautions, many Memphis-Shelby County Schools students did not get an honors ensemble experience in 2021. This district honor choir performance of Sleeping at Last’s “North” was a chance for high school all-region and all-state singers to be honored for their hard work during our annual “State of the District” event.
2021 - North Virtual Performance
2022 was a year I set to grow an enormous amount personally as an artist. I had spent the first several years of my career so focused on the ensembles that I work with that I was not improving as a musician myself. I sought to fix that in two ways present in the linked video: attending numerous conducting workshops and beginning a TikTok to have a creative outlook and to develop professional connections.
