Brandon VanDyke

This is Mr. VanDyke's 14th year teaching, and his second year here at Fowler Middle School.  He received his Bachelor of Music Education with Summa Cum Laude Honors from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and his Master of Music in Conducting from American Band College in Ashland, Oregon.

From 2002 through 2010, Mr. VanDyke served as the Director of Bands & Orchestra at Tualatin High School.  He also served as Tualatin's Fine & Performing Arts Department Coordinator until the position was cut in 2009.  Under his direction, the Tualatin High School Orchestra won the Pacific Conference Orchestra Festival three times.  The Tualatin Orchestra also qualified for the Oregon State Orchestra Championships in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2009; and performed at state in both 2003 and 2008.  Under Mr. VanDyke's direction, the Tualatin High School Wind Ensemble received state-qualifying scores at adjudicated festivals every year from 2005 through 2010.  In 2009, the Tualatin Wind Ensemble won the Pacific Conference Band Festival and went on to perform at the Oregon State Band Championships.  The Tualatin High School Timberwolf Marching Band placed third in Open Class in the Portland Rose Festival Starlight Parade in 2007, and third in Class A in both 2009 and 2010.  During his tenure at Tualatin High School, the Instrumental Music Department also travelled to the bay area three times to perform in the San Francisco Heritage Festival, with both Orchestra and Wind Ensemble receiving gold ratings.  At the 2007 festival, Tualatin High School also received the Sweepstakes Award for the most outstanding instrumental program at the festival.  At the 2010 San Francisco Heritage Festival, the Tualatin Orchestra received the Adjudicator's Award for earning scores of 92 or above from all three judges.  Prior to his arrival in the Tigard-Tualatin School District, Mr. VanDyke served for three years as the Director of Instrumental Music at Surprise Lake Middle School in Milton, Washington, where both his Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band consistently earned Superior Ratings at Commencement Bay Music Festivals.

In addition to teaching, Mr. VanDyke also performs regularly as a freelance trumpeter, with the Swing Tones Big Band, and with the Oregon Symphonic Band, which was awarded the Sudler Silver Scroll in December of 2007 by the John Philip Sousa Foundation.  As a member of OSB, he performed at the prestigious Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in 2006 and at the Oregon Music Educators Association Conference in both 2008 and 2010.  In recent years, Mr. VanDyke has served as an adjudicator for the Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade and as exit exam faculty for American Band College.  Mr. VanDyke also serves on occasion as the Orchestra Director for musicals at Theatre in the Grove, in Forest Grove.  Recent productions include: Bye Bye Birdie (2003), The King and I (2008), and Annie Get Your Gun (2009).