Jason Smigell has been a musician, educator, mentor and creator for over 30 years. He recently retired from public school as the Director of Bands at Howell HS in Howell, MI. Over his twenty five year career as a band director, Jason has given hundreds of performances with his students, earning exemplary ratings and positive reviews from audiences all over Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, Florida, and Illinois. He has sent dozens of his students to music school, and many of them still work in the business as performers, educators, sound engineers, music therapists, and music producers.
Awards and accolades include being nominated 15 years in a row for district teacher of the year, 2022 high school teacher of the year for Livingston County, and a special commendation by the Michigan State Legislature. In graduate school he was awarded the Donald R. Shepherd Fellowship in Music Education, for which he is very grateful.
Jason has been very fortunate to be influenced and taught by many fantastic teachers over the years, particularly at the University of Michigan, where he earned both a bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Music Eduation. He has studied conducting with H. Robert Reynolds, Michael Adelson, Donald Schleicher, and Glen Adsit, and Gary Lewis. He has studied saxophone with Carrie Koffman, Chistopher Creviston, and his hero, mentor and guru Donald Sinta.
Over the years he has written both music for marching band, jazz band, and percussion ensemble. He also has written marching shows for his beloved Highlanders, several high schools in Michigan, and the University of Michigan. As a soloist and performer, Jason has given recitals, and gigged in bars on saxophone, drum kit, keyboards and vocals. He looks forward to doing more of these things now that he has more time.
