Artistic Director, Dan Bassett
Dan Bassett has been the artistic director of the South Florida Pride Concert Band in Fort Lauderdale since 2006. From 1997 – 2004, Mr. Bassett was Director of Bands at Boca Raton Community High School in Boca Raton, FL where his competitive marching band regularly made finals at the Florida Marching Band Coalition State Championships. From Boca Raton High School, he took the band director position at St. Mark’s Episcopal School in Ft. Lauderdale. Not long after, Mr. Bassett moved into administrative roles as Director of Music, Middle School Administrator, and currently Assistant Principal. Mr. Bassett holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and Trumpet Performance from Ithaca College, a master’s degree in Music Education from Florida State University and is certified in Educational Leadership and Administration in the State of Florida. He has been honored as “20 Under 40 Influential Artists in South Florida” by the Miami Herald, “Out 50 – Influential People in South Florida” by the South Florida Gay News, and “100 Movers and Shakers in the LGBT South Florida Community” by Agenda Magazine.
Assistant Director, Sara Cowley
Sara Cowley serves as the Assistant Director of the South Florida Pride Concert Band and was previously the Director of Bands at NSU University School in Davie, FL. She earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Education degrees from the University of Miami Frost School of Music. Prior to joining NSU University School, Ms. Cowley taught for five years at Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School, during which she was selected as the Rookie Teacher of the Year. In addition to this role, she also directed the marching, concert, jazz, and color guard programs, and taught Dual Enrollment Music Appreciation through Florida International University. Under her direction, the marching band reached state finals for the first time in school history and the concert and jazz band programs were rebuilt and regularly participated in Florida Bandmasters Association District Music Performance Assessments. Ms. Cowley is an active member of the National Association for Music Education, Florida Music Educators Association, Florida Bandmasters Association, Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society, and is a sister of Sigma Alpha Iota, women’s music fraternity.
Something Wicked Concert
Dan Bassett is serving as Artistic Director for his 4th conference and will conduct 4 pieces at the Something Wicker concert. The South Florida Pride Concert Band Assistant Director, Sara Cowley, will also conduct 4 pieces at the concert. She has served as Assistant Director since 2017. The other 4 concert band pieces will be conducted by artistic leadership from within the Pride Bands Alliance and the south Florida band community and will be inclusive of race, ethnicity, and gender. Section leaders will be recruited from within the South Florida Pride Concert Band and other Pride Bands Alliance members and will be inclusive of race, ethnicity, gender, and band affiliation. Two new South Florida Pride Concert Band commissions from composers Kelijah Dunton and Michele Fernandez will be debuted at the concert.