Joe Santanello

Joe Santanello, originally from Vernon, New Jersey, is in his 14th year teaching and his fourth year as the Director of Bands at North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Previously, Joe served as the Director of Bands at Strayer Middle School in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. In his time at Quakertown, his ensembles were frequently recognized as outstanding. The Strayer Middle School Wind Symphony was invited to perform at the 2017 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Conference in Erie and the Strayer Jazz Band was invited to perform at the 2016 Conference in Hershey. In addition to concert and jazz ensembles, Joe served as the co-director of the Quakertown High School ``Panther” Marching Band for ten years where the band was a regular top-five finisher at USBands National Championships as well the Group IV Open Pennsylvania State Champion in 2016. The North Penn Marching Knights, under his direction, were most recently the 2021 USBands Group IV Open Pennsylvania State, Mid-Atlantic Regional and National Champions.

Joe earned his Bachelors of Music in Education from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 2009, and his Masters in Conducting from the American Band College of Sam Houston State University in 2014. In addition to teaching, he is a regular performer on French horn. Joe has served as the principal horn of Pennsylvania Symphonic Winds and Warminster Symphony Orchestra, and has also performed with Liberty Wind Symphony, Doylestown Symphonic Winds, Berks Opera Company and more. He is also the Music Director and Principal Conductor of The Quakertown Band, founded in 1877, which makes it one of America’s oldest continually performing concert bands.

In his free time, Joe Santanello enjoys weight-lifting, reading, cooking, NY sports, and spending time outdoors with his wife, Kaylee, also a musician. They have two cats, Milo and Penny; a dog, Sophie; and a cockatiel, Figaro.