With one year under his belt directing the Missouri State University Pride Marching Band, Dr. Bradley Snow follows in the footsteps of long-time director Jerry Hoover while continuing to increase membership and take the band to the next level of excellence.
Honor the past, look toward the future. That’s what Dr. Bradley Snow did when he became the director of athletic bands at Missouri State University (MSU) following the retirement of Jerry Hoover, who was the band director at MSU for 31 years. After completing his first year at MSU, Snow is continuing to raise the bar.
Half time: What is your musical background?
Snow: I started playing trumpet in the seventh grade, and from day one, I knew it was what I wanted to do. I went to the University of Missouri and got an undergraduate degree in music education and got hired as a band director in Warrenton, Missouri, for five years.
I had a friend who was a band director in the area, and he joined the [U.S.] Marine Band. It was something I’d always wanted to do, so I set up an audition, and next thing I knew, I was in the Marine Band. I did that for four years and got a lot of experience. I was able to utilize the Montgomery GI Bill to help pay for grad school as soon as I got out of the Marine Corps, and I did my master’s and doctoral degrees in conducting back-to-back … at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Halftime: How did the Marine Band influence you as a director?
Snow: It gave me an appreciation for how to run an organization because the Marine Corps is very organized. In addition to playing our instruments, we all had logistical assignments, and my assignment for four years was to schedule all of our performances and make sure we had musicians to cover all of [them]. So that helped with being a college band director. I don’t think I would be as successful as I am if I had not done the Marine Band.
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