Chris DeVona

Chris DeVona is the Assistant Director of Bands at James Madison University, where he

conducts the Symphonic Band, directs the basketball Pep Band, and works with the Marching

Royal Dukes. In addition to his ensemble responsibilities, Chris also teaches conducting and

marching band procedures courses. Prior to joining the band team at JMU, Chris was on faculty

at Eastern University (PA), and he taught high school and middle school band/orchestra in his

home state of Connecticut.

When not working with the JMU bands, Chris travels frequently as a guest conductor, clinician,

and adjudicator for concert and marching ensembles. During the summer and fall seasons,

Chris stays actively involved with marching band and drum corps, most recently serving in

leadership roles on the staffs at the Blue Knights and Jersey Surf Drum & Bugle Corps.

In addition to his teaching, Chris’s works as an author span from educational literature to

research in the wind band field. His recent textbooks include Small Band, Big Sound, a resource

guide for music educators, as well as Expanding the Canon, a conducting excerpt book that

foregrounds music by living composers. Chris’s research primarily addresses score

interpretation and connections with contemporary music analysis; his articles are published in

the Journal of Band Research and the journal of the International Conductor’s Guild.

Chris holds undergraduate degrees from the Hartt School and the University of Hartford in

music theory and mathematics, and he completed his M.M. in conducting at West Chester

University (PA).