Scott Watson

Dr. Scott Watson is a veteran K-12 music teacher, frequently published and commissioned composer, and highly regarded music education technology specialist. In addition to 25 years teaching instrumental and classroom music in the Parkland School District (Allentown, Pennsylvania), Watson is an adjunct instructor for Villanova, Philadelphia Biblical, and Central Connecticut State Universities, and is former Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Technology for Temple University’s Boyer College of Music. Parkland’s elementary instrumental program, which he coordinates, has more than 900 band and strings students in eight buildings and was featured in a music advocacy DVD produced by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association.

Watson has presented music technology workshops for hundreds of K-12 music educators in school districts and state/national conferences in more than a dozen U.S. states and Canada. He serves on the Board of Directors for TI:ME (Technology for Music Education) and is a MakeMusic/Finale Clinician. A favorite theme in all his teaching, and the topic of his book (Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity, Oxford University Press), is using technology to draw out authentic creative expression via project-based learning.

Watson’s compositions have been called “beautiful and interesting” (The Instrumentalist) and “written with supreme craft” (Percussive Notes) and includes several dozen best-selling published works for concert band and orchestra. Watson is an exclusive composer for Alfred Publications’ Challenger concert band series. Recent commissions include those by the Lehigh County Honors Band, the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association, the Twin Falls (Idaho) Municipal Band in collaboration with the American Composers Forum, and the East Stroudsburg (PA) Composers Series.