“It’s our band, not my band,” new head Band Director Cathryn Smith says about the upcoming year with the Sound of Dublin bands.
Dublin’s band program will see all new faces, but at least one of them will seem familiar as head band director Cathryn Smith (formerly Rasbury) has returned to DISD along with Joseph Dunlap, who has been hired as First Assistant.
Both instructors most recently came from Coleman ISD and one additional band instructor is anticipated to sign a contract for the upcoming school year.
For Smith, her musical educator career began with an internship with Disney in 2016. She then taught at Cross Plains for two years, then at Dublin ISD for four years as Head Junior High Director and then Coleman ISD for two years as Head Band Director.
“And now I’m back,” she said, smiling.
“We are excited to have Cathryn back to lead the South of Dublin Band! She knows our students, staff and community on a personal level and will dedicate her energy to everyone involved. Joseph Dunlap and Cathryn Smith have worked alongside one another since she left Dublin, and they have the best interest of students at the forefront of all of their decisions. I cannot wait to see them continue to build a successful program!” Superintendent Melissa Summers said.
Smith has a Bachelors of Music with a teaching certificate from Howard Payne University and an Associate of Arts from Cisco College.
Dunlap is a fairly new face in the public school system with the majority of his experience being from teaching at the college level.
After earning his Masters of Music in Music Theory and Composition from Hardin Simmons University, he taught music theory at Cisco College.
Then Dunlap began teaching as a part-time adjunct professor and a part-timestaff accompanist, working his way up to a fulltime instructor of music at Howard Payne University.
Over the course of eight years at the university, he built a collegiate music theory program that spans theory, ear training, sight singing, dictation, piano skills, form, analysis, orchestration and arranging.
During his final year teaching at Howard Payne, Dunlap began assisting Cathryn with her low brass section as well as one of her soloists for solo and ensemble contest, so when the assistant band director position opened up at Coleman ISD, he decided to apply and got it. Dunlap was hired as the assistant band director for Coleman ISD in August 2023 and began working on his teaching certificate.
Smith and Dunlap also participate in community theatre together at The Lyric in Brownwood, currently working on The Music Man which premieres in July.
Dunlap admits he misses the classroom lecture part of teaching college, however, he will be teaching a dual credit Music Appreciation class at DHS with Ranger College.
Smith decided to relocate back to Dublin after several friends and principals let her know about the position.
“They were just like, ‘Hey, come talk to us,’” she said. With both Smith and Dunlap living in Brownwood with their spouses and children, they knew it would be a drive. “I started talking to them and it felt like family. It was a God-thing. Everything started falling in place.”
From Dunlap’s perspective, he said there will always be districts out there who try to grab good teachers, so he did not anticipate that this summer he would be making a change, just that there might be offers.
“She brought up the offer from Dublin and I thought, ‘OK, it’s another offer.’ Then I talked to them and thought, ‘There is some potential here,’” he said. “When I talked to the Dublin admin, I was just blown away.”
Cathryn admits with the support that the administration offers their teachers, it makes it hard to go to another district.
“You kind of close a door and you never think a door is going to open back. This one opened back and it’s a beautiful thing,” Smith said.
Moving into this school year, the band directors know that there will be music classes for 4th and 5th graders, a 6th grade band, a 7th grade band, a high school band (with 8th graders being able to join) and a jazz band.
Though it is early in the summer, Smith said they have began reviewing shows for the fall, and are leaning towards a fun show that combines pop hits with classical music. However, much of the program will be decided by the students as they get to know them and the DISD band program better.
“I like to talk to the kids and see what are things that bother them or things that they enjoy. I don’t really want to change anything that doesn’t necessarily need to be changed,” Smith said.
“One of the worst things a band director can do is walk in and say, ‘Here’s how my program is going to be run,’ and just change everything,” Dunlap said, referring to two types of band directors: one that has their own policies they implement no matter where they are and one that is interested in what the culture is for the band and the school, and then meet them where they are, fixing what needs to be fixed.
Neither band director is interested in walking in and undoing decades of tradition with the Sound of Dublin Band.
Both instructors said part of building a great band is building a culture.
“It’s a matter of how do we get the kids to take ownership of their own program,” Dunlap said. “So if they’re excited for the show, then they are onboard. If they have a say in how things go, at least in one way or another, then they are going to buy into the program, because it is their program.”
As Smith comes back to Dublin, she said she is most excited about having the administration support the kids.
“There is nothing better than seeing the kids look up into the stands when they are about to perform and they see their principals, teachers or administration show up,” she said. “The joy in their face when they realize they are important. I’m really excited about that.”
Smith said she is also looking forward to seeing her friends again in the district and the students because she knows about 95% of them.
For Dunlap, he excited to experience another school district to see what it is like and to experience the support of the administration.
“I’m also just excited because of what I’ve done in the past year which was connecting with students, cultivating relationships with them, and fostering different levels of musical excellence depending on their age groups,” he said.
Both are looking forward to boosting up students to another level from where they are at the beginning of the school year and just focusing on building the program.
All band directors will be team teaching for all levels of the band and are excited to start the year.
For Smith, an extra level of excitement accompanies her as she has been nominated, for the second year in a row, as Grammy Music Educator of the Year.
Currently, she is a legacy quarterfinalist awaiting to hear if she is a semi-finalist. As a nominee in 2024, she was selected to be placed into the award again as a legacy nominee, out of 159 legacy applicant throughout the U.S.
As a semi-finalist, she would receive $500 and as a finalist in the top 10, she would receive $1,000 for her and her school district. Winners get flown to the Grammy’s and get to walk the red carpet. They also open the Grammy awards with a special presentation.
“It’s a huge honor. You look at these other names on the list and I think, ‘how am I able to compare?’” she said. She will find out results later this year.