Dr. Robert Spradling
Director of BandsProfessor of Music
Robert L. Spradling is a Professor of Music at Western Michigan University, where he serves as Director of Bands and conducts the University Symphonic Band and Western Winds. Dr. Spradling holds three degrees from The Florida State University: the Bachelor of Music Education, the Master of Music Education, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education. He joined the WMU faculty in the fall of 1993 after serving as Director of Bands and Chairperson for Winds and Percussion at Syracuse University. Prior to his university experience, Dr. Spradling taught at the junior and senior high levels in the Florida public schools.
As a conductor in the School of Music at Western Michigan University, Dr. Spradling has prepared the University Symphonic Band for performances for the College Band Directors National Association, tours throughout the State of Michigan and Midwest, as well as international tours of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Brazil, and in 2006, the People’s Republic of China. In addition, the Western Winds, a faculty-graduate student chamber winds ensemble, has performed for the International Horn Society’s World Conference. Dr. Spradling teaches both undergraduate and graduate conducting courses as well as a graduate course on the development of the wind band and its literature.
In demand as a guest conductor and clinician, Dr. Spradling has been active nationally and internationally with outstanding amateur and professional ensembles and has contributed to numerous clinics and conferences for the professional development of wind band conductors.
Dr. Spradling has contributed articles to the Instrumentalist, Journal of Band Research, Journal of Research in Music Education, and The Band Directors Guide, among others, and he continues his research into conductor-ensemble interaction.
Dr. Spradling has been the recipient of the American School Band Directors Stanbury Award and the Kappa Kappa Psi A. Frank Martin Award for leadership in the music profession. He is co-founder and has served both as an officer and member of the board of directors of the New York State Band Directors Association. In addition, he has served as Florida State Chairman of the National Band Association and in the capacities of New York Chairman, National Coordinator for State Chairpersons, and Eastern Division President of the College Band Directors National Association. Other professional memberships include Music Educators National Conference, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha, Phi Beta Mu, Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, and Sigma Alpha Iota.
