Ohio State band director search to take longer than expected

Logan Hickman
Fri, 27 Feb 2015 18:57:21 +0000
Campus, News, Band Director, jon waters, marching band, ohio state, osumb

OSU Marching Band members play during a game against Kent State on Sept. 13 at Ohio Stadium. OSU won, 66-0.
Credit: Mark Batke / Photo editor

The search for Ohio State’s next band director will take longer than the school originally announced.

The university said in a September release that a search committee planned to select the new leader within four to six months, or by mid-February.

The new director will be selected once the school has “identified a world-class leader” for its “world-class band,” OSU spokesman Chris Davey said in a Friday email when asked when the name will be announced.

He said the selection was slowed last semester because two current band members and the interim director are involved in the search, and the football season caused time constraints.

The search committee has received more than 25 applications and has considered others based on committee recommendations, Davey said.

Former director Jonathan Waters applied to the position as well. Davey said in a separate email that he couldn’t say whether Waters will be considered because he can’t comment on the specific candidates of an open employment search.

Waters was fired in July after an OSU investigation found the band contained an entrenched sexualized culture and Waters was either aware of, or reasonably should have been aware of it.

Members of the search committee include:

Scott Jones, associate director of University Bands and associate professor of music

Ted McDaniel, professor of African American and African studies and professor of music

Deborah Larsen, associate dean of the College of Medicine and director of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences – former member of the athletic council and recommended by University Senate secretary Tim Gerber, who is affiliated with the School of Music

Jeffrey Jordan, chief financial officer of the Ohio High School Athletic Association and treasurer of the Ohio State University Alumni Association Board of Directors – former band member and member of the TBDBITL Alumni Society

Diana Sabau, senior associate director of athletics

Two student members of the current OSU Marching Band: Lindsay Conkel and David Pettit