Meet our Band Education Manager
Meet Mary
Band Education Manager
Mary Speight serves as our Band Education Manager, working closely with our partner directors to support teaching and pedagogy. She served for 10 years as a band director in North Carolina and Texas before joining Austin Soundwaves in September of this year. Prior to studying music, Mary actually wanted to be a veterinarian and worked at a zoo for a brief time. Mary just returned to playing her primary instrument bassoon in an orchestra and is excited to be performing on it again.
Among her many responsibilities, Mary also keeps track of our large inventory of donated instruments. Most recently, she helped to coordinate a project with local artist Maria Montoya Hohenstein (pictured above) to donate a few damaged-beyond-repair instruments for one of her upcoming art projects.
We continue to take instruments from donors all over Austin and even have our upcoming Fall Into Music drive November 11-18. We have three partner locations to drop off at during this time including KMFA 89.5, Armstrong Community Music School, and Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches. We will also host an outdoor kickoff concert at KMFA 89.5 from 7-8pm on November 11, featuring performances by our intergenerational ensemble Mariachi Para Todos and several of our brilliant teaching artist staff and students. Get your free tickets at our Eventbrite page and click on the button below to learn more about Fall Into Music.