Dr. Christopher Knighten

Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music, University of Arkansas

 

"The knowledge and experiences I received as a Music Education student at Baylor University did more than just prepare me well for a career in instrumental music education. The opportunity to participate in the ensembles while learning from such talented and caring music education and studio faculty was inspirational."

Dr. Christopher Knighten is Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music in the University of Arkansas Department of Music. His duties include conducting the Wind Ensemble, leading the graduate instrumental conducting program, teaching conducting and band literature courses, and overseeing all aspects of the band program. Under his direction the University of Arkansas Wind Ensemble performed at College Band Directors National Association divisional conferences in Fayetteville, AR in 2014 (as hosts), in Boulder, CO in 2016, and at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, TX in March, 2015. In his previous role as Director of Athletic Bands the Razorback Marching Band grew to more than 350 members and performed at the FedEx Liberty Bowl, BCS Sugar Bowl, and AT&T Cotton Bowl. He has also served on the faculties at East Carolina University and Baylor University and taught instrumental music at Richland High School in North Richland Hills, TX.

Dr. Knighten has presented sessions on band literature and pedagogy at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the College Band Directors National Association Conference, the Music Educators National Conference, and the North Carolina and Tennessee Music Educators conferences. His articles on conducting and band literature have been published in The Instrumentalist, The Journal of Band Research, The North Carolina Music Educator, Today’s Music Educator, and in the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the Music Educators National Conference, the SEC Band Directors Association, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, Kappa Kappa Psi National Band fraternity, and the Golden Key International Honor Society.

Dr. Knighten holds the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Instrumental Conducting and the Master of Music Degree in Wind Conducting from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Bachelor of Music Education Degree from Baylor University. His primary conducting teachers were Michael Haithcock and Allan McMurray.