CONDUCTORS

   & SOLOIST   

Jay Hagy
Director of Bands

Jay Hagy is a dedicated educator with a decade of teaching experience, currently in his fourth year at Canyon Vista Middle School. Under his guidance, the Canyon Vista Band has consistently achieved excellence, earning sweepstakes at the UIL Concert and Sight Reading Assessment. In 2023, the Canyon Vista Honors Band reached the finals of the TMEA Honor Band competition and was honored as a two-time National Winner in the prestigious Foundation for Music Education's Mark of Excellence competition.

Before joining Canyon Vista, Mr. Hagy served as an Assistant Band Director at Grisham Middle School, which was invited to perform at the 2019 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference. Mr. Hagy's extensive teaching experience also includes roles in both high school and middle school band programs at Grain Valley South Middle School in Kansas City, MO, and Klein Oak High School in Spring, TX. Additionally, he was a member of the brass staff for the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps from 2009 to 2016.

Mr. Hagy's educational background includes a Master's degree in Tuba Performance from the University of Alabama, where he had the privilege of studying under the tutelage of esteemed instructors Demondrae Thurman and Mike Dunn. During his time at the university, Jay served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant with the renowned Million Dollar Band and took on the role of Director for the University of Alabama Euphonium and Tuba Ensemble. Notably, he was part of the Alabama Tuba Quartet, which won the International Tuba-Euphonium Conference Tuba Quartet competition in 2008.

Mr. Hagy resides in Cedar Park, TX, with his loving wife, Samantha, and their son, Jack.

Rebecca Click
Assistant Director

Rebecca Click is the Assistant Band Director at Canyon Vista Middle School! Her responsibilities include directing Select Band, co-teaching Symphonic Band, teaching beginner flute, clarinet, saxophone, as well as assisting the Honors Band and low brass beginner classes

Prior to Canyon Vista, Mrs. Click served as Director of Bands at Dawson Middle School in Carroll ISD, Assistant Director at Carroll High School, Assistant Band Director at Cain Middle School in Rockwall ISD, Director of Music at Orchard School in San Jose, CA, and most recently as Assistant Director at Wiley Middle School in Leander ISD. 

Bands under Mrs. Click’s direction have consistently received UIL Sweepstakes and superior ratings at festivals. Mrs. Click’s bands have been recognized at both the state and national levels. The Dawson Middle School Wind Ensemble was selected by the Foundation for Music Education as a National Winner in the 2016 National Wind Band Honors Project. The ensemble was a finalist in the TMEA Honor Band Contest, placing 5th in 2017. During her time at Wiley Middle School, the Wind Ensemble was selected as the 2023 TMEA Honor Band. 

Originally from Alpharetta, Georgia, Mrs. Click came to Texas to pursue her Bachelors of Music Education from Southern Methodist University, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2010. In 2018, she was recognized by her alma mater, receiving the “Young Music Educator of the Year” award. She is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association and the Texas Bandmasters Association. Mrs. Click lives in Cedar Park, and loves spending time with her husband Austin, sons Oliver (4) and Henry (1), and the “Greatest” Pyrenees, Murphy. 

Susan Scarborough
Guest Conductor

Susan Scarborough earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Sam Houston State University. Her first fifteen years were at Bleyl Junior High School in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. Mrs. Scarborough then moved to Doerre Intermediate School in Klein ISD where she taught fourteen years. 

Bands under Mrs. Scarborough’s leadership consistently received “Sweepstakes” awards at UIL Contest, as well as being chosen “Best in Class” in several state competitions. Her bands were also chosen as a finalist in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006 at the Texas Music Educators Association CCC Honor Band competition. In both 2004 and 2006 the Doerre Honor Band placed 1st runner up. In December 2006 her band performed at the prestigious Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. 

The 2008-2009 school year marked the first year of retirement from a public-school position for Mrs. Scarborough, and she started her second “career” doing freelance work as a consultant, clinician, mentor, adjudicator and teacher. She works with multiple schools in the Houston and Austin area. 

Mrs. Scarborough is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association. She is an active clinician and adjudicator throughout the state and is a member of Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Mu and the Texas Music Adjudicators Association. Mrs. Scarborough served a seven-year term on the executive board for the Texas Bandmasters Association where she was president in 2005. In 2022 Mrs. Scarborough received the Meritorious Achievement Award from the Texas Bandmasters Association. She was also inducted into Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame that same year.

She lives in Conroe with her husband James, who is retired from the information technology division of Kinder Morgan Corporation in Houston. They have a daughter Laura Fleming who lives with her husband Scott and three boys in Magnolia, Texas. Her son Brent Marquart and his wife Amanda are both high school band directors who live in Houston, Texas. 

Demondrae Thurman
Euphonium Soloist

Known worldwide for his signature sound and overt musicality, Demondrae Thurman has brought his remarkable skills to light as a soloist, educator, chamber musician, and conductor. As a frequently invited guest at many of the world's most noted festivals and conferences for Low Brass, his voice-like timbre reaches everyone in his audience. In addition to performing with many of the finest orchestras in the United States, Chamber Music is an integral component of Demondrae's career. Has performed on euphonium and/or trombone with the Brass Band of Battle Creek, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Youngblood Brass Band- but his most celebrated collaboration to date is as first euphonium with the Sotto Voce Quartet. 

Currently, Demondrae is Professor of Music and Chair of the Brass Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. The position was created for him to utilize his specific skills and expertise in euphonium and brass chamber music. He is also a Davis Artist at Samford University. Demondrae Thurman is a Miraphone Performing Artist and plays exclusively the Miraphone 5050 Ambassador Edition euphonium which was designed specifically for him.  He also plays the custom Demondrae model mouthpiece manufactured by Warburton Music Products and is a Shires Trombone Performing Artist.