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Music Director/Conductor

D. Scott Stewart joined the Naugatuck Community Band as the current Music Director/Conductor in 2018.  In addition to conducting the Naugatuck Community Band, Mr. Stewart is a music educator in the New Haven  Public Schools having received his Bachelor degree from the University of Connecticut and his Master's Degree in Music Education/Wind Conducting from the Hartt School, University of Hartford.

As an undergraduate, Mr. Stewart was a member of the Marching Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble (Trumpet/Euphonium), and Concert Choir (tenor).  While attending UConn he performed in the premiers of David Maslanka's 3rd Symphony and Morton Gould's final composition, Remembrance Day (Soliloquy for a Passing Century), premiered for President Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev with an additional performance at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Stewart studied conducting under Glen Adsit and Edward Cumming and has attended conducting clinics with H. Robert Reynolds, Michael Haithcock, and Michael Colgrass.  Mr. Stewart's past guest conducting includes the Capitol Winds Symphonic Ensemble at the University of Hartford and the Director of the Eastern Connecticut State University Concert Band.

 

Mr. Stewart continues to be active in performance on Euphonium with the Capitol Symphonic Winds in Hartford, CT. and the Plainville Conmmunity Band and has served as Co-Director of the Southern Region of the Connecticut Music Educators Association (CMEA).  In 2016 he was a Yale/New Haven Teaching Fellow studying how individuals create identity through music in addition to being selected as a Fund for Teachers Fellow, researching Gabriel Fauré in Paris, France.  Mr. Stewart is currently (2020) in his second fellowship at Yale/New Haven studying the history of women in the musical arts.

Music Director Emeritus

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Joel R. Knecht took over as Director of the Naugatuck Community Band in September of 2015.  Mr. Knecht graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a Bachelors Degree in Music Performance on Euphonium.  

 

He studied under many professors at WCSU including Dr. Fernando Jimenez, Dr. Kevin Isaacs and Andrew Rodgers.  While at Western Connecticut State University, Mr. Knecht performed with the All New England Intercollegiate Band on two occasions, under the baton of Jerry Junkin and Gary Green.  He completed his Master of Music in Music Education from Kent State University in 2013. 

 

Mr. Knecht has been a presenter for the Waterbury Public Schools, the CMEA All-State In-service Conference and the NAfME All Eastern Division Conference, presenting sessions on teaching music composition.  He began teaching music in 2004, and has previously taught at Christian Heritage School, Seymour High School, and Hillside Middle School.  He currently serves as the Instrumental Music Director at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, a position he has held since 2010.  

 

Mr. Knecht is also an avid composer and arranger, having composed numerous original pieces for Concert Band, solo Euphonium literature, and many arrangements for a wide range of ensembles, including Jazz Combos, Brass Ensembles, Woodwind Ensembles, and Mallet Percussion Ensembles.  Mr. Knecht lives in Naugatuck with his wife, Kimya, and their 4 children, Elijah, Grant, Silas, and Lynnea.  In his free time, he loves to play Fantasy Sports, ride rollercoasters, and watch the New York Yankees.

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