Shawn Halquist
A lifelong music educator and pageantry judge with nearly 50 years of experience in band direction and performance design
Shawn Halquist retired in 2022 after a 38 year career as a high school Band Director and music teacher at all levels. After completing degrees at Edinboro University and SUNY Binghamton, Shawn taught for 13 years in the Millcreek Township School District in Erie, PA. In addition to being the Band, Jazz, Marching Band, and Orchestra Director at McDowell HS, he had a wide variety of assignments including elementary classroom, special needs, elementary Chorus, beginning Band and strings, elementary and middle school ensembles, high school general music, and pit orchestra. The McDowell HS ensembles were frequent award winners and the McDowell Marching Band was an annual performer at Bands of America regional and grand national competitions. (http://competitions.In)
In the fall of 1997, Mr. Halquist joined the staff at Brockport NY Central Schools and
spent the next 25 years teaching HS Band, brass, woodwind and percussion lessons,
Jazz Band, pit orchestra, and music theory; middle school Band and brass and
percussion lessons were added to his duties later in his time there. The Brockport Band traveled to music festivals every other year and consistently placed among the top scoring groups. They also performed at Walt Disney World six times between 2000 and 2020.
Mr. Halquist has been active in the pageantry arts for nearly 50 years. He has designed shows and written arrangements for all levels of performers. He judges for Drum Corps International, the New York State Field Band Conference, the Pennsylvania Federation of Contest Judges, Lakeshore Marching Band Association, Pittsburgh Interscholastic Marching Band Association, the North East School Band Association, Calvalcade of Bands, as well as independent contests across the country. He serves as music education director for both the NYSFBC and the PFCJ. He also is a solo and ensemble judge for the New York State School Music Association.
Shawn is a trumpet player in the Brockport Big Band, Eastman Music Educators’ Wind Ensemble, Penfield Symphony Orchestra, Perinton Concert Band, Cordancia
Orchestra, and Center Stage Pops Orchestra, as well as several school musicals and
church services. He and his educator wife Deanna live in Brockport, and they are the
proud parents of musician sons: Noah is a clarinetist, pianist and composer, and French horn performer Cody lives and works in the Richmond VA area.