Director Biography

This is Mr. VanDyke's 26th year teaching, and his 14th year as Director of Bands & Jazz Band (and sometimes PE teacher, too) at Thomas R. Fowler Middle School.  Brandon VanDyke received his Bachelor of Music Education with Summa Cum Laude Honors from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and his Master of Science in Music from American Band College in Ashland, Oregon.  Under Mr. VanDyke's direction, the Fowler Band Program has consistently received superior ratings at adjudicated events, including the Portland Rose Festival Junior Rose Parade and the Oregon State University Middle School Band Festival.

From 2002 through 2010, Mr. VanDyke served as the Director of Bands & Orchestra at Tualatin High School, and for six years of those years, he also served as Tualatin's Fine & Performing Arts Department Coordinator.  Under his direction, the Tualatin High School Orchestra won the Pacific Conference Orchestra Festival three times.  The Tualatin Orchestra also qualified for the Oregon State Orchestra Championships in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2009; and performed at state in both 2003 and 2008.  Under Mr. VanDyke's direction, the Tualatin High School Wind Ensemble received state-qualifying scores at adjudicated festivals every year from 2005 through 2010.  In 2009, the Tualatin Wind Ensemble won the Pacific Conference Band Festival and went on to perform at the Oregon State Band Championships.  The Tualatin High School Timberwolf Marching Band placed third in Open Class in the Portland Rose Festival Starlight Parade in 2007, and third in Class A in both 2009 and 2010.  During his tenure at Tualatin High School, the Instrumental Music Department also travelled to the bay area three times to perform in the San Francisco Heritage Festival, with both Orchestra and Wind Ensemble receiving gold ratings.  At the 2007 Heritage Festival, Tualatin High School also received the Sweepstakes Award for the most outstanding instrumental program at the festival, while at the 2010 festival, the Tualatin Orchestra received the Adjudicator's Award for earning scores of 92 or above from all three judges.  Prior to his arrival in the Tigard-Tualatin School District, Mr. VanDyke served for three years as the Director of Instrumental Music at Surprise Lake Middle School in Milton, Washington, where both his Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band consistently earned superior ratings at Commencement Bay Music Festivals.

In addition to teaching, Mr. VanDyke also performs regularly as a freelance trumpeter, with the Al Kader Shrine Concert and Dance Bands, and with the Oregon Symphonic Band, which was awarded the Sudler Silver Scroll in December of 2007 by the John Philip Sousa Foundation.  As a member of OSB, he has performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago in 2006, the Oregon Music Education Association Conference in both 2008 and 2010, the Western International Band Clinic in Seattle in 2013, the 2015 American Bandmasters Association Convention in Reno, and the 2019 NAfME Northwest Division Conference in Portland.  Mr. VanDyke also enjoys both performing as a trumpeter and serving as the orchestra director for musical theatre productions.  Past favorites include: The King and I (Theatre in the Grove), Chicago (TITG), Oklahoma! (TITG), Annie (Sherwood Foundation for the Arts), The Producers (SFA), The Addams Family (SFA), Singin' in the Rain (Mask & Mirror), High Society (Tacoma Musical Playhouse), and The Scarlet Pimpernel (TMP).  In past years, Mr. VanDyke has also served as an adjudicator for the Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade and as exit exam faculty for American Band College's graduate studies program.