About the Directors

L. Bruce Smith, BA Music, MA School Admin.
Mr. Smith, having attended Rowan and Rider Universities and The College of New Jersey, brings years of experience directing both school bands and choral groups.  He strives to continually increase the musicianship of all band members, many of whom are members of NJ Regional and All-State Bands.  Having served as both Asst. Principal and Principal in Delran Twp Schools, Mr. Smith has broad experience with students of all ages.  As an accomplished musician, he has performed in over 30 countries of North, Central, and South America, Europe, and Asia as a member of the US Navy Show Band (as a trombone and baritone player and vocalist) and as a vocalist with The Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale. He is the assistant director of the Moorestown Community Band and serves as a faculty advisor for William Patterson University.  He started directing the Concert Band in 2005.

Mandy Milne, BMus Ed, BMus Therapy, MMusEd
With advanced degrees from East Carolina University, Peabody Preparatory, and the prestigious Tanglewood Institute, Mrs. Milne brings a love of music to the Apprentice and Cadet Bands.  She has been a music educator for more than 30 years and has taught middle school through college level in both public and private school settings.  Under her direction, choirs and instrumental ensembles consistently received superior ratings in competitions.  A homeschool mom of three, she keeps busy conducting the children's and adult choirs of Immanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Bellmawr.




A special note to parents from Mrs. Milne, our Director of Beginning Bands:     (added Sept. 2, 2010)

I am very much looking forward to teaching your child and want to thank you for giving them the wonderful opportunity to learn an instrument.  As a parent of beginning instrumentalists and having been one myself, I know that all the squeeks and squawks you hear are not always pleasant.  And the expense of an instrument and the never-ending list of supplies can be daunting.  But fear not--you are doing a wonderful thing for your child and I want to encourage you to continue to nurture their interest in music.  In addition to the numerous personal benefits such as developing a leisure skill, self expression and stress reliever, there are many other cognitive, developmental and social benefits of an instrumental music education.  They are too numerous to mention here, but I want to share a few of them with you.

Did you know that…

Students of the arts continue to outperform their non-arts peers on the SAT, according to reports by the College Entrance Examination Board. In 2006, SAT takers with coursework/experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 43 points higher on the math portion than students with no coursework or experience in the arts.

Nearly 100% of past winners in the prestigious Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology (for high school students) play one or more musical instruments. This led the Siemens Foundation to host a recital at Carnegie Hall in 2004, featuring some of these young people, after which a panel of experts debated the nature of the apparent science/music link. – The Midland Chemist (American Chemical Society) Vol. 42, No.1, Feb. 2005

Data shows that high earnings are not just associated with people who have high technical skills. In fact, mastery of the arts and humanities is just as closely correlated with high earnings, and, according to our analysis, that will continue to be true. History, music, drawing, and painting, and economics will give our students an edge just as surely as math and science will. – Tough Choices or Tough Times: The report of the new commission on the skills of the American workforce, 2007, page 29;  HYPERLINK "http://www.skillscommission.org/" www.skillscommission.org

Secondary students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs). – Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse Report. Reported in Houston Chronicle, January 1998

The U.S. Department of Education lists the arts as subjects that college-bound middle and junior high school students should take, stating "Many colleges view participation in the arts and music as a valuable experience that broadens students’ understanding and appreciation of the world around them. It is also well known and widely recognized that the arts contribute significantly to children’s intellectual development." In addition, one or two years of Visual and Performing Arts is recommended for college-bound high school students. – Getting Ready for College Early: A Handbook for Parents of Students in the Middle and Junior High School Years, U.S. Department of Education, 1997;  HYPERLINK "http://www.ed.gov/pubs/GettingReadyCollegeEarly/step2.html" http://www.ed.gov/pubs/GettingReadyCollegeEarly/step2.html

Schools that have music programs have significantly higher graduation rates than do those without programs (90.2% as compared to 72.9%).

Here’s what former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee had to say to the MENC Centennial Congress in June 2007:
“When I hear people asking how do we fix the education system, I tell them we need to do the opposite of what is happening, cutting budgets by cutting music programs…. Nothing could be stupider than removing the ability for the left and right brains to function. Ask a CEO what they are looking for in an employee and they say they need people who understand teamwork, people who are disciplined, people who understand the big picture. You know what they need? They need musicians.”

Thank you for giving your child this gift.                                       


Musically Yours,

Mandy Milne