"I think I've always known I was going to teach," recalls Sarah McKoin '89, director of bands at Texas Tech University. "After getting into music, I knew my life was going to be a musical one."
Her first taste of orchestral performance came as an elementary student, when she picked up the clarinet. Her musical involvements grew to include participation with the Indianapolis Youth Orchestra and the Central Indiana High School Wind Ensemble. She says, "I thought it was the coolest thing — to sit and play in an orchestra or band and hear all of that sound! It was awesome."
It's clear that the music still awes McKoin, though she's shifted her focus from performance to conducting, a musical niche she gravitated toward while attending Michigan State, before coming to WSU. "I attended some conducting symposiums," she says, "and was hooked! Conducting really does bring who you are to the fore — it combines soul, intellect and body in a musically communicative way."
Though she's been involved in many professional projects, McKoin loves working with student musicians most. At Texas Tech, she oversees the entire band program, which includes four concert bands and a large athletic band. She also conducts the school's wind ensemble and teaches undergrad and grad-level courses in conducting.
At WSU, she says, "I learned what good teaching could look like — and I still have our Pep Band recording! I'm grateful to everyone who taught me, invested in me and helped shape my future."
