Dr. Myra Rhoden

Conn Selmer Educational Clinician

Dr. Myra Rhoden is the founder of Athena Music and Leadership (athenacamp.com), an all-girls music program created to promote musical excellence while emphasizing leadership skills. Recently retired after serving thirty years as a high school band director in the public schools of Georgia and Alabama, she now serves on the faculty at the University of West Georgia where she conducts the Symphonic Band and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Music Education. Rhoden frequently serves as a guest conductor for state, regional, and university honor bands and is honored to have presented sessions at The Midwest Clinic, various national, state and regional conferences, and for school systems and professional development clinics throughout North America. She is the author of Through My Music: Inspiring the Next Generation of Leaders, published by GIA Publications.

A native of Tuskegee, Alabama, Dr. Rhoden was named the NAfME 2018 National Band Director of the Year, has been awarded the Outstanding Service to Music Award from Tau Beta Sigma, the Golden Rose Award from Women Band Directors International, multiple Citations of Excellence from the National Band Association, and has been named STAR Teacher and Teacher of the Year. She had the distinct pleasure of being a guest conductor for the United States Air Force Band and the United States Army Field Band of Washington, D. C. and the Tara Winds of Atlanta, Georgia. She was elected to the prestigious American Bandmasters Association in 2023, is a member of the Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity, and serves as a Conn Selmer Educational Clinician. Dr. Rhoden holds degrees from the University of Alabama and the University of Southern Mississippi and resides in Fayetteville, Georgia with her husband, Errol Jr. Their son, Errol III, is a freelance musician based in Los Angeles.