Mark Calima

Mark Calima is an experienced high school band director and music teacher with over fifteen years of experience. He has earned numerous awards for his excellence and is presently transitioning into the role of clinician and consultant for band programs throughout the United States. Throughout his career, Mark Calima has refined his communication and listening skills so he can best help…

Mark Calima worked as a music educator and band director in Texas for almost fifteen years. He launched his career after he graduated cum laude with his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. He began as the Assistant Director of Bands at Bammel Middle School and, through excellent performance; he worked his way up to Director of Bands at Westfield High School.

Mark Calima is an award-winning high school band director and music teacher who graduated cum laude from Moores School of Music at the University of Houston with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. He has worked in his field for nearly fifteen years and, in that time, he’s earned an outstanding reputation among peers, students and parents. Presently, he’s transitioning to a career as a…

Mark Calima has spent nearly fifteen years teaching in and around Houston, Texas. His career began when he accepted a role as the Associate Band Director at Westfield High School in Houston, TX. There, he helped the band achieve numerous accomplishments, including earning the title of 2003 Bands of America Grand National Champion. Under Mr. Calima’s direction, Westfield HS Concert Bands were…

Mark Calima is a passionate band director with nearly fifteen years of experience working in music education. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, with which he graduated cum laude. He’s also the Founder and former Director of the Houston Area Summer Wind Ensemble. As a non-profit organization, Houston Area Summer Wind Ensemble served as a summer camp for Houston area high school music students.

Mark Calima is the Founder and former Director of the Houston Area Summer Wind Ensemble, a nonprofit organization that served as a summer camp for Houston area high school music students between 2004 and 2009. He has nearly fifteen years of experience as a concert band director and marching band director – today, Mr. Calima is transitioning to the roles of clinician and consultant for band…

Mark Calima is a dedicated high school band director and music teacher with over fifteen years of experience. He is passionate about helping students learn and is presently expanding his career horizons. “I am excited to announce that I will be transitioning into the role of clinician/consultant for band programs throughout Texas and the United States,” said Mark Calima. I feel that my recognized…

Mark Calima understands the value of good talent. An experienced, award-winning band director for much of his career, Calima knows the difference the right person in the right place can make, not only in the process of creating a stronger, more cohesive unit, but in developing and producing the superior-level of results needed to stand out from the competition.

A music educator and director for over a decade, Mark Calima knows what it takes to locate and attract just the right talent to a group; those individuals that help to solidify team unity while elevating the team’s overall performance. Appealing to the best talent requires:

Creating a Team They Want to Join

Leaders who cultivate an atmosphere with demonstrated support and appreciation of talent and effort tend to have better odds of appealing to and securing the right people.

Bringing Out the Best of the Best

Those who place the most apt, talented and dedicated people in positions that maximizes their potential demonstrates the value they place on high-performance.

Flexibility

Mark Calima is proud of what he has accomplished throughout his career, particularly as the Director of multiple marching bands throughout the state of Texas. He once served as the Director of Bands if the Cedar Ridge High School Band (2010-2015), and as the Director of Bands (2014-15), and Associate Director (2005-2010), of the Westfield High School Band.

Experienced high school band director and music teacher Mark Calima has devoted much of his life, and his career, to musical instruction; sharing his love of musical creation and development with aspiring young musicians for nearly 15 years. Now a consultant/clinician for band programs across Texas and the US, Calima continues to provide the leadership and guidance young people and music programs need to realize their full potential.

As a longtime music educator, Mark Calima understands the importance and value music education has in academia, for musicians and non-musicians alike. Music education:

--forces the brain to work harder. Research has shown that those students involved in some form of music training tend to use more of their brain than those who aren’t.

--assists in language development. Young children who receive music education tend to experience considerable benefit in terms of language development; breakthroughs that may serve them well throughout the rest of their lives.

--facilitates learning in other areas. Studies have shown music education to be a facilitator of learning in other subjects as well, enhancing those skills of use in other fields of study.

Mark Calima has won multiple awards throughout his music career, including the 2012 “Teacher of the Year” Award.

Mark Calima: Cum Laude Graduate,Honors Graduate and Bands of America Adjudicator

Mark Calima received his Music Education degree from the University of Houston, where he graduated Cum Laude in 2004. In the years since then, he has been an assistant band director and a band director at middle and high schools in Texas. Mark Calima spent fourteen years as a music teacher and band director at middle and high schools in Texas. He is experienced with marching bands, concert bands,…

Mark Calima is a veteran music teacher who spent fourteen years in middle and high schools in Texas. He has been awarded the “Who’s Who Among America’s High School Teachers,” and been named a campus Teacher of the Year, in addition to being a longtime Band Director who led different bands to prestigious national competitions.

But he knows that music teachers have to start somewhere. He graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Houston in 2004, and that same year landed a position as Assistant Director of Bands at Bammel Middle School.

The first day at any new job can be daunting, and for music teachers it’s no different. Based on his experience, the most important instrument that a music teacher has is his or her voice. When addressing a classroom full of students, it’s important for project your voice so that everyone can hear you. Pace yourself, too, by not talking too fast or too loud.

The equipment available to any music teacher is going to depend on how much the school can allocate toward a music program. A music teacher is going to require musical instruments, of course, but it doesn’t stop with those. Any modern classroom, from math to music, is going to need computers with high speed Internet connections. Music teachers will require good music software to run on their machines, along with CDs, books, and other audio and video equipment.

For new music teachers, it’s a great idea to find another music teacher with experience, and who is willing to act as a mentor. What you can learn from those more experienced is invaluable: they can provide everything from advice on managing a class of rowdy kids, to sharing lesson plans. An experienced colleague is the ideal mentor, but this can be supplemented by participating in online forums like MusicTeachers Helper.

Mark Calima has fourteen years of experience in the music programs at middle and high schools in Texas. He is a 2004 Cum Laude graduate of the University of Houston, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education.

He has had great success as a Director of Bands, in particular at Cedar Ridge High School in Round Rock. “In 2013, the Cedar Ridge High School Low Brass Choir was invited to perform at the prestigious Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago,” he recalls, “in addition to the annual UIL Sweepstakes Awards given to the Cedar Ridge Concert Bands.”

There are no short cuts to developing a competitive, successful high school marching band. Being in a marching band can be a grueling and exhausting activity, especially if you live in Texas, where it can be hot and dry. The parents of kids in the band should take care that their student is in good general health before they get involved.

Being in a marching band is a physically demanding activity, much like being on an athletic team. It’s important for band members to warm up before taking the field to play a halftime show, much the way that the guys on the football team warm up before the kickoff.

It can help to look at the marching part as something distinct from the musical part. Student-musicians should grow accustomed to walking for prolonged periods. They can start out by walking for twenty minutes at a time, and gradually increase the time over a period of weeks.

During a performance, marching bands are typically wearing uniforms with the school logo and colors. But for practices, members should wear light clothing if it’s warm outside, to avoid becoming overheated. It’s something for all band members to bear in mind, but especially those who are carrying heavy or clumsy instruments.

One of the key watchwords, of course, is hydration: band members should be reminded to drink plenty of water during rehearsals, and on the day of a performance.