Interim President & CEO, International Communications Officer, Executive Council
CANADA
Chris Herard has been involved in the marching arts education for over 30 years as a performer, instructor, director, choreographer, judge, consultant and keynote speaker.
He currently is serving as Consultant, Fine and Performing Arts, K-12 CSSD, in Calgary, Canada where he supports arts education in 118 schools for 63,000 students. Previous to this position Chris was Director of Bands at Bishop Carroll High School for 20 years. He has adjudicated, presented and guest conducted in the Netherlands, Thailand, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Italy, USA and across Canada. In 2017 Chris conducted his Bishop Carroll High School Virtuosi Strings at the prestigious “Midwest Clinic” in Chicago, IL. He also judged at the WMC – World Music Contest in 2022.
Chris’ choreography and ensembles have won numerous gold medals at WAMSB and other top level events around the world. Chris holds degrees in Music and Education and completed his Master’s degree in Music Education at the University of Hawaii. He serves on the jury for the John Phillip Sousa Foundation’s “Sudler Shield” award, an international award recognizing world class excellence for marching bands across the world. In 2022, Chris was the recipient of the Canadian Band Association’s “Community Builder Award”, recognizing his contributions to the band community in Canada. He continues to be in demand as a keynote speaker for educational leadership, servant leadership and music education.
As a performer, Chris has travelled around the world as an instrumentalist and singer, has over 20 recordings to his credit and was inducted into the Canadian A Cappella Hall of Fame in 2009.
Chris is a founding member of CADME, the Calgary Association for the Development of Music Education, an organization that has proudly granted over $2,000,000 to local music education initiatives in Calgary. He also founded Band Directors United, is a member of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences the Alberta Band Association, the American Federation of Musicians, sits on the board of the Alberta International Band Festival, Phi Beta Mu Alpha and is the executive council of WAMSB. Chris is also a founding board member of the Servant Leadership Association for Music (SLAM) with Tim Lautzenheiser, Scott Rush and numerous top educators in North America.