Indiana University of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce the appointment of Nevin Saylor as interim director of the IUP Marching Band.
A proud IUP alumnus, Saylor completed graduate work at IUP and at the VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. For 30 years he taught in the Indiana Area School District, leading the Junior High band, chorus, orchestra, and jazz band, as well as Senior High marching band, wind ensemble, symphonic band, pit orchestra, and jazz ensemble. In 2000 he founded the Indiana Area School District’s jazz artist in residence program, which has provided opportunities for IASD jazz students to perform and record with Jonathan Batiste, Chris Vadala, Steve Hawk, Joe Saylor, James Moore, Jon Faddis, Jim McFalls, Steve Wilson, Philip Kuehn, Louis Bonilla, Jeff Bush, Rex Richardson, and Slide Hampton.
Saylor’s marching bands have appeared at numerous parades, including the Hollywood Christmas Parade in California and the Fiesta Bowl Parade in Arizona. His jazz ensembles have performed in many festivals, including PMEA State Conventions in Philadelphia and Hershey, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Den Haag, Netherlands.
“I am honored to be the interim director and consider myself to be a representative of the hundreds of marching band alumni who zealously and lovingly support the 2021 IUP Marching Band,” Saylor said.
As one of 14 family members, spanning nine decades, who participated in the Indiana Normal School, Indiana State Teachers College, and IUP Music Department, he readily acknowledges that “IUP music is literally woven into my fabric.”