Jay Londgren is the band director at the Singapore American School, one of the largest international schools in the world. He joins the show to talk about teaching band abroad and shares stories of teaching in Venezuela, South Korea, and Singapore.

Topics:

• Jay’s early years as a musician and some teachers who mentored him on his way to becoming a music teacher.
• Moving to Venezuela, teaching in that first job, and some anecdotes from that job.
• His move to the Korean International School (KIS), a terrific story about his first budget meeting with his new principal, and the growth of the program during his time there.
• The demographics of the international schools and the founding of the KIMEA.
• The music programs at the Singapore American School.

Links:

• Singapore American School
• Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS)
• Korean International School
• Korean International Music Educators Association
• Maslanka: Symphony No. 4

Biography:

Jay Londgren is currently director of HS Bands and Jazz at Singapore American School. Prior to SAS he served as head of music at Korea International School and taught PreS-12 music at CIPLC in Barcelona, Venezuela. At native of rural Minnesota and former "farm kid," Jay earned his undergraduate degrees (with majors in Music, Education and English Composition) at Luther College in Decorah, IA. He is also a graduate of the American Band College. Jay has spent his entire career overseas. He is an active member in the Association of Music in International Schools (AMIS) community, bringing students to festivals throughout the world and presenting at AMIS conferences in Scotland, Bangkok, Seoul, Dubai and Hong Kong. He currently serves on the AMIS Board of Directors. Additionally, while in Korea he helped found the Korea International Music Educators Association (KIMEA). KIMEA grew to host (and continues to host) multiple MS and HS music festivals throughout the year in Korea.

When not at work you might find him running, taking pictures or attempting to cook something - all three of which he does with mixed success.

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