Ms. Debbie Meyer has taught in the Seattle School District for more than twelve years, spending over a decade at Chief Sealth International High School where she has led the Concert and Marching Band, Jazz Band, Intermediate and Honor Choirs and Mariachi in addition to teaching multiple levels of piano classes. She established the popular Men’s Vocal Ensemble, co-produced three musical productions and helped launch the Denny International Middle School Mariachi Program by obtaining a grant for $30,000 on the school’s behalf. She currently coaches the Jazz Combo and Brass Quintet. Ms. Meyer has been nominated to the Who’s Who in American Education four times, placing her within the top 5% of teachers nationwide.
Her Sealth students have performed at Benaroya Hall, throughout Washington State, and twice at Carnegie Hall in New York City; her Honor Choir hopes to return to Carnegie Hall during the 2010-2011 school year. The Honor Choir was asked to perform twice alongside the acclaimed artist Josh Groban at the Paramount Theater and White River Amphitheater and was one of only three choirs invited to sing for Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa. Her mariachi program has been featured on the front page of The Seattle Times, on the KUOW radio program Meet the Beat with Dave Beck, on the cover of VOICE magazine (a publication for Washington State music educators) and most recently on the Seattle Channel’s television show, City Stream. The mariachi travels annually to the Northwest Mariachi Festival in Wenatchee, Washington.
Under her direction, the Band performed in many local parades, half-time shows at football games, local band festivals, Husky Band Day, and annually in Victoria, BC. Both instrumental and vocal students have performed at the Elliott Bay Music Educator’s Association Solo and Ensemble Festival, with students advancing to the WIAA state level competitions on several occasions. The Jazz Band performs annually in the Mill Creek Jazz Festival and is starting a new tradition by traveling this spring to the Northwest Jazz Festival at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. Future trips are planned to also attend the Reno Jazz Festival held at the University of Nevada.
As a result of her tutelage, Chief Sealth Music Department graduates have excelled in music beyond high school. Countless students have become members of the music departments at many universities including the University of Washington, Washington State University, Eastern Washington University, Central Washington University, Seattle Pacific University and Brigham Young University. Students have also gone on to become choir directors themselves, perform professionally with the Village Theater Company in Issaquah, Washington, and recorded their own albums on private recording labels.
She brought together students, parents and community members to raise funds and purchase new performance attire for four ensembles: choir robes ($9,000), mariachi trajes ($15,000) and marching band uniforms ($25,000). Her jazz band upgraded to tuxedos and formal dresses during the 2009-2010 school year ($4,000).
Debbie believes a strong foundation of music education is imperative to all aspiring young musicians, a position she gained from studying piano and trumpet from an early age and playing in the renowned Roosevelt High Jazz Band. This broad musical base prepared her to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Washington, where she served as trumpet section leader in the Husky Marching Band for a majority of the time she was a member. While at the UW, she studied trumpet with Roy Cummings and worked with Professor Timothy Salzman as a member of the Wind Ensemble. She also volunteered as a staff member for eight years in the Seattle All City High School Marching Band.
She completed her Master of Arts in Education and Professional Teaching Certificate program at Antioch University Seattle, where she specialized in researching and promoting mariachi education. While there Debbie developed a reference document entitled “Building a Successful Mariachi Program” for colleagues, available at http://www.chiefsealthmusic.org/downloads/BuildingMariachiProgram.pdf.
Debbie has been the Chief Sealth Performing Arts Department Head for seven years and is serving her second year as co-chair of the Instructional Committee. She was on the Denny/Sealth BEX committee for two years, working to design the new Denny/Chief Sealth co-location. In addition to being a long-standing member of the Washington Music Educator’s Association (WMEA) and the National Association for Music Education (MENC), she also serves on the Board of the Elliott Bay Music Educator’s Association (EBMEA) and is a Seattle School District Trainer for the new Washington State Classroom Based Performance Assessment (CBPA) for music. Most recently, she was honored to serve as the guest director for the 2009-2010 Elementary Instrumental Music’s Honor Band.
In addition to teaching private piano lessons, she currently plays trumpet and flugelhorn in the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra (SWOJO) and cornet in PugetBrass, a British-style brass band. She is frequently asked to perform as a sub in the West Seattle Big Band trumpet section. Debbie has also worked as a church musician playing piano, trumpet and organ at many churches in the Seattle and Boston areas.
Contact Information
- Email: dlmeyer@seattleschools.org
- Phone: 206.252.8591
