“Work on being present in everything you do. College is a stressful and chaotic few years of life, but being present and mindful about whatever is in front of you will help you find the success you’re striving for.”
The department is proud to welcome Dr. Anna Scott as the new Assistant Director of University Bands! Dr. Scott recently earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Band Conducting from Arizona State University and began her tenure in this role on July 1.
Dr. Scott is an active guest conductor, saxophonist, clinician, and adjudicator. She taught saxophone at Morningside University and instrument method at Western Iowa Tech Community College. As a native of Chester, South Dakota, she has served in the South Dakota Army National Guard since 2007. A soldier in the “Governor’s Own 147th Army Band,” Dr. Scott is currently the principal saxophonist in the concert band and tenor saxophonist in the music performance team, SGT Rock.
Get to know Dr. Scott more through the short interview below, and keep an eye out for her at football games with the Marching Tar Heels this fall!
UNC Music: What courses are you teaching this coming fall?
Dr. Anna Scott: I will assist with the Marching Tar Heels, direct the Women’s Basketball Band, and teach other music courses (TBD).
UNC Music: What is your favorite part of teaching and what are you looking forward to most coming to UNC?
Dr. Scott: As a band director, I LOVE working with students from so many different majors across campus and still choose to keep music in their lives.
Music and sports have always been big parts of my life. Being hired by UNC to play a part in both of those areas is an absolute dream come true.
UNC Music: What is the project that you’re most excited about currently?
Dr. Scott: I am very excited to continue my doctoral research on using ChatGPT to help with concert programming. I had a great year of digging deep into AI and understanding ChatGPT, and now the next step of incorporating a ChatGPT feature into the online wind band repertoire database.
On top of that, getting to know all of our students, not only in the music department but within the marching band, will be a fun adventure this year.
UNC Music: What are some of your non-musical hobbies?
Dr. Scott: Outside of music, I enjoy powerlifting, reading, building Legos (working through the Star Wars collection currently), and spending time with my dog, Rey.
UNC Music: If your students could learn one thing from you, what do you hope it will be?
Dr. Scott: Work on being present in everything you do. College is a stressful and chaotic few years of life, but being present and mindful about whatever is in front of you will help you find the success you’re striving for.
UNC Music: What music are you currently listening to?
Dr. Scott: Taylor Swift is always somewhere in my playlist, otherwise, Spotify tells me I have Beyonce and Earth, Wind, and Fire on quite a bit lately
UNC Music: Anything else you’d like students to know about you or your teaching?
Dr. Scott: I want my students to come into rehearsals ready to make music but, above that, enjoy and feel safe in the space they’re in.