WILLIAM J EARVIN THIS WEEK'S SPECIAL GUEST ON SOUNDS OF THE DIASPORA WITH HOST DION PARSON

This week's special guest is William J Earvin. William J. Earvin is the Director of Bands at Baker High School. He is a native of Atlanta, GA and is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music. After graduating from Clark Atlanta in 2000, he began his music education career teaching in Georgia. He later pursued his graduate studies at Mississippi Valley State University where he earned a Master of Arts Degree in Education. While at Mississippi Valley he served as a graduate assistant in the Fine Arts Department and Assistant Director of Bands. Mr. Earvin also secured a position as the first African American Director of Bands at Mississippi Delta Community College.

Mr. Earvin later returned to Georgia to teach, and his ensembles consistently earned Superior Ratings at the GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluation and were selected to perform at numerous regional and national festivals. Mr. Earvin has been honored as an “Outstanding Music Educator” by the Berklee College of Music (2009) and a “Distinguished Music Educator” by the Yale University School of Music (2013).

Mr. Earvin joined the Baker High School faculty in 2016 and has led the Baker Band program to numerous first place marching and concert band awards, Superior ratings at both the LMEA District and State Festivals, and performances at the “WorldStrides OnStage” Festival in Dallas, TX, and the Louisiana Concert Band Invitational in Lafayette, LA. Most recently, the Baker High School Symphonic Band performed at Carnegie Hall in March, 2018.

Mr. Earvin is currently a doctoral candidate at Northcentral University and Director of Education and Development for Devmusic Publishing, LLC. While maintaining a loving family environment, career goals, and a passion for music, Mr. Earvin is actively involved in numerous civic and professional organizations; the Louisiana Association for Student Assistance Programs, the Louisiana Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education, Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Band Fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity, the National Band Association, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., and is a member of the Music for All Urban Education Advisory Committee. Mr. Earvin and his lovely wife Tamesha are the proud parents of four talented children.

Your host, Dion Parson, is an educator, composer, Grammy Award-winning performer, and bandleader. He currently resides on the island of St. Thomas and serves as the Chair of the Communication and Performing Arts Department at the University of the Virgin Islands. He is also the President of the United Jazz Foundation, which is a music education organization that mentors underprivileged kids to become musicians. His musical career has allowed him to tour internationally for over 30 years, and he has been recorded on over 110 recordings.