John Burdett, EdD

Associate Professor; Director of Music Education, Wind Ensemble Conductor

Office Location: East Campus, Warren Music Center, Room 211

Video Introduction

John Burdett, EdD, is an associate professor in the Azusa Pacific University School of Music where he serves as director of music education and wind ensemble conductor. His duties include facilitating the music education program, and teaching graduate students pursuing the Master of Music in Conducting and the Master of Music in Music Education degrees.

Under his leadership, the APU Wind Ensemble have presented acclaimed performances at the 2018 California All State Music Education Conference and Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association conference and been part of commissioning notable composers including Bill Connor, Dana Wilson, James Stephenson, David Biedenbender, Gary Kuo, and John Mackey. Their recording of choral compositions set for wind band by Sir John Rutter, Z. Randall Stroope, and Kevin Memley, have been utilized by music publishers such as TRN and Imagine Publishing as source recordings for conductors and teachers throughout the world. As a leading member of the California Wind Band Commission Consortium, the Wind Ensemble commissioned and premiered RISE by acclaimed contemporary composer Adam Schoenberg.

Burdett completed music education and conducting degrees at Azusa Pacific University and California State University, Los Angeles before earning the Doctorate of Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he served as a teaching assistant in the Music Education and Band Divisions. In addition to his dissertation research into the experiences of students with hearing loss in instrumental music, John’s research interests include the performance practice of symphonic compositions with South and Central American LatinX stylistic influences, the psychosocial components of conducting, the democratization of decision making in large concert ensembles, and increasing accessibility to music education for marginalized student populations. He is fortunate to have had extensive conducting study with Abel Ramirez, DMA; James F. Keene; and Dr. Roby George, DMA; in addition to masterclass study with Donald Hunsberger, Col. Timothy Foley, and Michael Tilson Thomas.

Burdett conducts, performs on saxophone, and records throughout the Los Angeles area and has toured in the United States and Japan with a variety of classical, jazz and commercial ensembles. He has published and presented his research at European and American conferences, including the International Society for Music Education, Spirituality and Music Education, and California Music Educators Association and contributed to the Peter Lang (Oxford) series. Burdett has conducted regional and state honor bands and orchestras in Texas and California, and serves as lead adjudicator with the Music Center of Los Angeles Spotlight Awards Classical Instrumental Division.

In his efforts to support the pursuits of instrumental music teachers and their students, Dr. Burdett co-founded both the California Wind Band Commission Consortium and the Arcadia Music and Arts Symposium and serves on the SCSBOA Festival Adjudication committee. Most importantly, after dedicating 25 years to developing student musicians, Dr. Burdett takes pride in seeing his former students serve as professional teachers and conductors, from the elementary to the professional level in California and around the world.

Education

EdD, Music Education, University of Illinois
MM, Instrumental Conducting, California State University, Los Angeles
BA, Music Education, Azusa Pacific University

Credentials/Certifications

California State Single Subject Teaching Credential, Music

Academic Area

School of the Arts

Expertise

Philosophy and Psychology of Music Education
Wind Conducting
Nature of Music Learning
Conducting
Hearing Loss

Courses Taught

GMUS 510 – Instrumental Conducting
GMUS 514 – Issues in Classroom Pedagogy
GMUS 515 – Instrumental Pedagogy
GMUS 511 – Applied Graduate Conducting
GMUS 513 – Philosophical and Psychological Foundations of Music Education
GMUS 516 – Social and Historical Foundations of Music Education
GMUS 590 – Directed Research
GMUS 591 – Thesis
MUS 361 – Introduction to Conducting
MUS 363 – Instrumental Conducting
MUS 433 – Music Methods for Secondary Schools
MUS 387 – Wind Ensemble