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Director of Bands
Dr. Teresa Purcell-Giles
Teresa Purcell-Giles joined the faculty at William Paterson University in 2021. At WP, Purcell-Giles serves as Director of Bands, Assistant Professor of Music and Flute, and coordinates the Woodwind Area.
Her teaching responsibilities include conducting the WP Wind Symphony, applied flute, advanced conducting and woodwind methods.
Prior to her appointment at WP, Purcell-Giles was Director of Bands at Oklahoma Baptist University, and taught 5th-12th grade bands in the public schools of Georgia and Kansas. She holds degrees from the University of Oklahoma (D.M.A. Wind Conducting, 2017), Kansas State University (M.M. Instrumental Conducting, 2011) and the University of Texas at El Paso (B.M. Music Education, 2007). Her primary conducting mentors have been Frank Tracz and Bill Wakefield, and she studied flute with Melissa Colgin-Abeln and Mary Lee Cochran.
Purcell-Giles is active as a clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor across the country, and in June 2022, she taught at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music Summer Camp in East Jerusalem as part of a partnership with the Hishmeh Foundation and Paterson Music Project. She has presented nationally on topics ranging from engaging audiences through interactive performances to wellness and injury prevention for conductors, and in 2016, was invited to guest conduct the United States Army Band Pershing's Own as part of their Conductor's Workshop.
She holds professional affiliations with the College Band Directors National Association, the National Association for Music Educators, New Jersey Music Educators, the National Flute Association and is an honorary member of Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi.
Purcell-Giles lives in Wayne, NJ with her husband, Ken and son, Simon.
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Director of Bands
Music Admissions
Mailing Address
300 Pompton Rd.
Wayne, NJ 07470