Blake Ward
Katiana "Katie" Nicholson is the newest Director of Bands at Siegel High School, her Alma Mater from which she graduated in 2013. From winning Contest of Champions three years in a row to attending the Governor's School of the Arts, she has very fond memories and experiences from high school that pushed her into the profession. She is very excited to join the Siegel Band family once again, and she hopes to take what she has learned from two storied and long-standing band programs to continue building the Siegel Band program.
Prior to returning to the Siegel Band, Ms. Nicholson was the Band Director at Columbia Central High School, where she taught for the last two years. Ms. Nicholson's first teaching appointment was as the Assistant Band Director at Brentwood High School. Under her leadership, Ms. Nicholson's ensembles have scored superior ratings at Concert Performance Assessment. She has taught AP Music Theory, Jazz Band, Guitar, and Music History, and she helped start the new Commercial Music Ensemble at Brentwood High School. She is entering her seventh year as a high school band director.
Ms. Nicholson graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a B.M. in Music Education. She was heavily involved in the University Honors College as a Buchanan Scholar, comprising the top 20 students of each year's graduating class. During her college years, Ms. Nicholson won multiple leadership and music education awards through her tenure as Band of Blue Drum Major for four years. She received the President's Award, the highest honor an undergraduate can receive at the university.
Outside of teaching, Ms. Nicholson is the Assistant Principal Clarinetist of the Nashville African American Wind Symphony (NAAWS), which debuted at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, TN on Juneteenth, 2022. With NAAWS she has traveled to Colorado to perform for the NAACP. Her past performance experiences include being a Drum Major at Music City Drum Corps in 2014 and marching indoor at Rhythm X, Inc. in Dayton, OH in 2016.
Ms. Nicholson is a member of the National Association of Music Educators, Tennessee Bandmasters Association, and MTSBOA. This year, Ms. Nicholson will be honored as a 2024 CMA Music Teacher of Excellence in September in Nashville, TN.
On her own time, she loves cooking, traveling, and spending time with friends and family and her two dogs, Murphy and June.
Bio
Blake Ward serves as the Director of Bands at Siegel High School. Prior to his appointment in 2023, Mr. Ward served as Assistant Band Director at Siegel High School (2020-2023), Band Director at Greenbrier Middle School, TN (2018-2020) and Loganville Middle School, GA (2016-2018).
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Bands under Mr. Ward's direction have received numerous superior ratings at MTSBOA Concert Performance Assessment.
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Mr. Ward's previous performance experiences include: saxophone in the Tennessee Tech University Symphony Band, the Troubadours Jazz Ensemble, drum major of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagle Marching Band, mellophone with Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps, as well as participating in saxophone quartets and chamber ensembles.
Mr. Ward is a member of the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, Tennessee Music Education Association, and the National Association for Music Education. He lives in Murfreesboro with his wife, Savannah, son, Clark and silver lab, Rosie.