Department Chair
Associate Director of Bands

Coordinator of Music Education
Professor of Music

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Education

• D.M.A. University of Kansas
• M.M.E. Indiana University
• B.M.E. Bowling Green State University

Teaching Specialties

• Wind Band Performance
• Instrumental Music Education
• Conducting

Courses Taught

• Symphonic Winds
• Methods and Materials for Teaching Concert Bands
• Introduction to K-12 Music Education
• Elementary Conducting
• Leadership in Contemporary Music Education

Research Interests

• Utilizing the National Core Music Standards in Large Ensembles
• Wind Band Literature as it Relates to Curriculum
• Educational Psychology as it Relates to Music Instruction
• Performance Clinician
• Guest Conductor

Affiliations

• National Association for Music Education
• College Band Directors National Association
• National Band Association
• College Music Society
• Sigma Alpha Iota
• Arkansas Music Educators Association
• Tau Beta Sigma

Curriculum Vitae

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Biography

Sarah Labovitz is currently the Chairmen, Associate Director of Bands, and Coordinator of Music Education at Arkansas State University. She directs the Symphonic Winds, teaches undergraduate and graduate music education and conducting, and supervises student interns. Prior to her appointment at A-State, Dr. Labovitz served as the Assistant Director of Bands/Director of Athletic Bands at Washburn University. She earned a BME from Bowling Green State University, an MME from Indiana University, and a DMA in Wind Conducting from the University of Kansas where she studied with Dr. Paul Popiel.

Dr. Labovitz is an active guest conductor having had the pleasure of working with numerous ensembles throughout the United States and abroad. At home, on top of her work with the A-State Symphonic Winds, guest conducting the A-State Wind Ensemble, and visiting band rooms across the Mid-South, she serves as the music director for the Diamond Brass Band. She is a frequent honor band clinician who prides herself on her ability to meet every student where they are at and to program high-quality, grade-appropriate music so that each student under her leadership simultaneously has a worthwhile, memorable musical experience and enjoys themselves in the process.

In addition to guest conducting, Dr. Labovitz is a sought-after clinician who has given multiple presentations at the National Association for Music Education’s National In-Service Conference, the College Band Director National Association’s (CBDNA) National and Regional Conferences, and numerous state music educator conventions.  In December of 2021, she has the honor of presenting “Focus on What You Can Do, Not on What You Can’t; Modifying Your Music Curriculum in Meaningful Ways” at the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference with her colleague and friend, Dr. Timothy Oliver.  This was Dr. Labovitz’s third Midwest Clinic presentation in ten years. She previously gave presentations on “Conducting Your Way to Better Classroom Management” and “Rehearsing Your Way Through the National Core Music Standards.”

Building bridges between instrumental music education at the collegiate and secondary level is a lifelong pursuit of Dr. Labovitz.  She is a contributing author to the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series and currently serves as a Music Education Consultant for the NAMM sponsored Music Achievement Council, a member of CBDNA’s Music Education Committee, and a member of the National Band Association’s Merrill Jones Memorial Young Band Composition Contest Committee. At the 2021 Arkansas Bandmasters Association Conference, she was named a member of the Arkansas Bandmasters Association Executive Committee. Past service to the profession includes time as the Collegiate Chair for the Arkansas Music Educators Association and President of the Arkansas Chapter of CBDNA.  She was recognized for her service to the profession, community, and her university as the 2021 recipient of A-State’s Faculty Achievement Professional Service Award.

Dr. Labovitz has served as a production assistant on the NAXOS recordings “Landscapes” and “In the Shadow of No Towers,” Michael Torke’s album ”Concerto for Orchestra,”  and the Klavier recording “Of Shadow and Light.” She is in demand as a marching band adjudicator and drill writer and prior to her current position at A-State she served as Arkansas State’s Director of Athletic Bands for five years, leading the Howlers Pep Bands and the Sound of the Natural State Marching Band. She stays active on her primary instrument, the clarinet, by performing with the newly created Jonesboro Community Wind Ensemble and subbing with the Delta Symphony Orchestra, a regional symphony based out of Jonesboro, AR.

Her public-school experience includes serving as Director of Bands at Athens High School in Athens, OH and Director of Instrumental Music at Admiral King High School in Lorain, OH. She currently resides in Jonesboro with her husband, Dr. Charles Page, the Director of Bands for the Valley View School District and her two rescue labs, Rosie and Sadie.