Dr. Edwin Powell Selected to Join WMEA’s Hall of Fame

Hearty congratulations to our own Dr. Edwin Powell, Director of Bands and Professor of Music, on his selection for the 2020 class of the Washington Music Educators Association Hall of Fame. Honorees are selected every other year by their teaching peers and inducted at the annual WMEA conference. Dr. Powell was surprised to receive the honor and said, “I have been committed to helping to elevate educators of bands and wind ensembles around the state for many years. To have those long-term efforts recognized by others is flattering beyond belief.”

Dr. Brian Galante, Chair of the Music department, stated, “We are delighted to hear that Dr. Powell will be inducted into the WMEA Hall of Fame. Ed is a dedicated teacher, passionate musician, and a true leader in his field. He fully deserves this recognition, and I am proud to call him a colleague and friend.”

The Washington Music Educators Hall of Fame was established in 1998 in order to give recognition for exceptional support, inspiration, and outstanding contribution to the growth and development of music education, both public and private, in the state of Washington. All 2020 honorees, including Dr. Powell,  will be celebrated at a WMEA Hall of Fame and Local Recognition Banquet on February 13, 2020 in Yakima, WA in addition to the general conference the next day. 

Edwin C. Powell is the Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University where he is responsible for the University Wind Ensemble, Conducting, and Music Education Methods courses. In 2015 he was the recipient of a Pacific Lutheran University Faculty Excellence Award. Dr. Powell earned degrees from the University of the Pacific, the Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music and The University of North Texas where he completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting studying with Eugene Migliaro Corporon.

Previous to his 2005 appointment at PLU, Dr. Powell was on faculty at the University of Tennessee, where he was Assistant Director of Bands responsible for the Symphonic Band, the 350 member Pride of the Southland Marching Band, conducting courses and music education methods courses.

Dr. Powell maintains an active schedule as a clinician and adjudicator worldwide conducting groups from San Francisco, California to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He enjoys producing recordings, is a contributing author for the immensely popular textbook series Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, by GIA Publications, and is published in the NBA Journal, Voice Magazine, and the Journal of Band Research.