Dr. Curran Prendergast

Curran Prendergast is the Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Truman State University where he guides all aspects of the band and graduate instrumental conducting programs. He conducts Wind Symphony I and II, directs the Statesmen Marching Band, and teaches undergraduate and graduate music education and conducting courses. A native of Iowa, Dr. Prendergast received his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Central College (IA). He subsequently taught in the public schools for seven years in Indiana and Minnesota. Predergast also served on staff with the Dubuque Colts Drum and Bugle Corps. Dr. Prendergast holds a Master of Arts in Band Conducting from the University of Iowa and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting from the University of Georgia. His conducting teachers include Dr. Shelley Axelson, Dr. Richard Mark Heidel, and Dr. John Lynch. As an advocate for new wind band music, Prendergast is regularly involved in commissioning new works for band and connecting his students with living composers including John Hennecken, Michael Ippolito, John Leszczynski, Timothy Mahr, Victor Marquez, and Jess Turner. Other research interests include the impact of preplanned versus spontaneous conducting gesture on ensemble performance and developing innovative teaching and programming strategies for music educators. Prendergast has appeared as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator in Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota, Canada, Russia, and Switzerland. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, National Association for Music Education, College Music Society, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi.