posted July 22, 2008
CSO Youth Symphony Conductor Gary Wilkes began a two-year term as president of the Tennessee Music Educators Association. The mission of the TMEA is to promote the advancement of high quality music education by providing opportunities for students, professional development for music educators and by advocating for music education at local, state and national levels.
Wilkes currently serves as the orchestra teacher at Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences. For the past twelve years, he has been the music director of the CSO Youth Orchestras and the conductor of the CSO Youth Symphony. Wilkes, an alumnus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, received his Bachelors degree in Music Education and a Master of Music Diploma from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Over the past thirty years, he has taught both bands and orchestras in Texas and Tennessee.
“I have met and taught more than 8,000 kids during my career as a teacher,” said Wilkes. “I think music education is important because through the teaching of music, we produce members of society that can express emotions through an art form, who can communicate globally and hopefully can have a higher quality of life.”
Wilkes, a native Chattanoogan, played in the CSO Youth Symphony for four years while attending East Ridge High School. During that same time, he also played two years with the Chattanooga Symphony before serving as principal bassoonist from 1978-1982, second bassoon from 1999-2003 and then off and on since then. He has been a member of the TMEA for 15 years, a tenure concurrent with his position as conductor of the CSO Youth Symphony.
"I love conducting the Youth Orchestra,” Wilkes said. “I have enjoyed watching it grow from one orchestra to now four. I think that the Youth Orchestra is one of the most important youth groups in Chattanooga. Not only does it provide future players for the CSO, it also helps to promote a love for classical music within these kids.”
Wilkes has professional affiliations with the MENC, TMEA, East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, American String Teachers Association, National School Orchestra Association, International Double Reed Society, Tennessee Education Association, Hamilton County Education Association, and the Chattanooga Musicians’ Union-Local 80. He is also currently serving as President of the Tennessee chapter of the American String Teachers Association, and was honored as one of Tennessee’s outstanding teachers by the Board of the Tennessee Governors School of the Arts.
As for his goals as President of the TMEA Wilkes said, “During the first half of my teaching career, I taught band and orchestra in the state of Texas. During my tenure there, I was fortunate to be elected as a regional officer and saw how pro-active that board was in fighting for established programs to be retained rather than being eliminated. It is my wish that our TMEA can become a formidable lobbying group to aid in more music classes and positions in Tennessee rather than less."
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