MAST, ANDREW (b. 1967)

Andrew Mast (born March 26, 1967, Mason City, Iowa) grew up in a musical town (the birthplace of Meredith Wilson of The Music Man fame) and in a musical home. His mother, being a pianist, organist and violinist, was a huge influence on Andrew's musical development. The bug for being a band conductor bit him in high school working with then-director of bands, Gil Lettow. Between him and his college mentor, Dr. Myron Welch, a remarkable standard was set .

 

Andrew Mast received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Iowa in 1989 and began teaching instrumental music in grades 5-12 in the Urbandale and Madrid, Iowa, schools. Moving to Minnesota in 1992, he became Director of Bands at Shakopee High School until 1997, during which time he worked on his Master of Arts degree in Music Education from The University of Minnesota under Craig Kirchhoff and Paul Haack. His master's degree thesis compared the effects of competitive and non-competitive chair placement procedures in school bands.

 

From 1997-1999, Andrew worked on his Doctorate of Musical Arts Conducting from The University of Iowa under his mentor, Dr. Myron Welch. His dissertation was, The History of the Mason City (Iowa) Commnity and High School Bands, 1920-1999.

 

Andrew Mast became the Director of Bands at St. Ambrose University Davenport, Iowa, in 1999. At the end of his fifth year of teaching at St. Ambrose, he was selected as the Outstanding Faculty member for the 2003-2004 year. There he conducted the Symphonic Band and University Community Orchestra, taught conducting and music education classes and served as department chair. He also conducted the Quad City Wind Ensemble and founded the Quad City Area Youth Wind Symphony.

 

During the summers of 2003-2004, Mast was on the conducting faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan. In the fall of 2004, Andrew Mast became the Assistant Professor Music and Director of Bands at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin. He conducts the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band while teaching courses in conducting and music education.

 

In May of 2006, Andrew Mast was a guest conductor for the Pilsen (Plzeň) Conservatory of Music in the Czech Republic. Bands under his direction have performed at several state music conferences.

 

Dr. Mast's professional affiliations include the College Band Directors' National Association (NCBA), the National Band Association (NBA), the Music in Educators' National Conference.