The Band Booster is a great way to get involved in your students’ musical education, meet other band families, and keep informed of upcoming band events and special functions, and we can’t do this without you. It takes the whole community of caregivers, friends, and family to make the Lamar Scottie Band successful and we need your help! Our hope is to have 100% participation from all band families through either your time, talent, or treasures.
Family and business sponsorships are the largest single fundraising source for the Lamar Band Booster. Our sponsorship goal for this year is $10,000 — would you or your business consider supporting the band by making a tax-deductible donation? These donations help cover lesson and trip scholarships, as well as pay for the band’s social gatherings.
Our biggest volunteer needs for the year are Chairs for the 3 events that the booster runs. If you are interested in helping organize one of these events, please let us know. These activities don’t work without family support, so please keep an eye out for volunteer requests from the Booster Club or the Band Directors, and check Charms or the band website calendar for specific events.
School code is “scottieband”, then click ‘Volunteer Needs’.
Welcome to Lamar Middle School and Lamar Band Booster. Lamar Band Booster is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to supporting the band programs and Lamar Middle School and Fine Arts Academy in Austin, Texas.
Band boosters are involved with fundraising, chaperoning trips (to include football games and off-campus performances), assisting with concerts, and organizing various band student events. Band Boosters work closely with the Band Directors and meet monthly to discuss upcoming events and information.
The renowned Lamar Middle School Bands are directed by Luis Corpus and Sam Hightower. The Lamar Scottie Band program consists of Beginning Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Advanced Percussion Ensemble and Jazz Factory.
Private lessons help children achieve the greatest amount of success in the least amount of time. Each session is based on the individual student’s learning style and learning pace.
Lamar Middle School & Fine Arts Academy
6201 Wynona Ave.
Austin, TX 78757
Music Department Phone (512) 414-4549
Email: luis.corpus@austinisd.org
Mr. Luis Corpus has been named the new Director of Bands at Lamar Middle School Fine Arts Academy in Austin, Texas. In addition to teaching band, marching band, private woodwind lessons, and sectional work in the greater Austin area, Mr. Corpus, a solo clarinetist, frequently performs with university wind symphonies, choral ensembles, chamber ensembles, and vocal soloists. He has served as principal clarinetist with the Victoria Symphony, Texas State Wind Symphony, and Texas State Symphony Orchestra. Additional music ensembles include the Texas State Opera, Texas State Clarinet Choir, the Texas State Bobcat Marching Band, and the Texas State Clarinet Choir. He frequently is invited to perform for premier music compositions by central Texas and nationally acclaimed composers. Mr. Corpus recently served as the associate band director at Americo Paredes Middle School in Austin School District prior to accepting the director’s position at Lamar Middle School.
Corpus, an All-State clarinetist is a native of Harlingen, Texas. His formal music education and studies include a Bachelor’s of Music Studies at Texas State University where he studied with internationally acclaimed, clarinet professor, Dr. Vanguel Tangarov. Corpus recently completed his Master’s Degree in Clarinet Performance under Professor Jonathan Gunn at The University of Texas Butler School of Music at Austin. In 2018 (?), Mr. Corpus took the stage in performance as a member in The University of Texas Wind Symphony, Professor Jerry Junkin, conductor, in an epic performance in The San Antonio’s Lila Cockrell Theatre at the annual Texas Music Educators Association special concert.
Luis Corpus has participated in numerous masterclasses with world-renowned artists of major music organizations and music schools. A few of these artists are members of the London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Conservatory, Julliard School of Music, Montreal Symphony, National Opera House in Paris, Texas Christian University, Austin Symphony Orchestra and many more. Luis Corpus also studied cello and violin in his undergraduate work at Texas State. Under the mentorship of Dr. Rebecca Tast, Corpus has studied orchestral pedagogy and teaching techniques. In the summer of 2016, Corpus was accepted into the “Balabanov’s House Music Days International Festival” in Plovdiv, Bulgaria where he worked closely with major international artists such as Philippe Cuper, Vangeul Tangarov, Petkko Radev, and Llian Iliev.
Following a robust instructional series of group sessions with high school students at John Connally, Charles Akins, Robert Hendrickson, and August Weiss High Schools as the clarinet instructor and woodwind specialist in music for the marching band, and selected Texas all-state literature, Mr. Corpus is excited to join the music faculty as the school’s newly appointed Director of Bands at Lamar MS Fine Arts Academy.
Sam Hightower graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. While at UNT, he performed with the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band as a saxophonist, and served as a section leader in the Green Brigade Marching Band.
Sam completed his student teaching at Lake Dallas High School and Lake Dallas Middle School, where he taught beginner woodwind and brass classes, led sectionals, conducted the concert bands, and served as the primary director for the high school jazz ensemble.
Over the past two years, Sam has worked as a traveling band director across four campuses in Austin ISD, teaching beginner students on flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, and trombone. He also organized and conducted concerts at each school in the fall and spring semesters. In addition to classroom teaching, Sam has taught private saxophone lessons in both Denton and Austin.
Born and raised in Austin, Sam attended O. Henry Middle School and Austin High School in Austin ISD! Outside of music he enjoys aviation, traveling, video games, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Originally from Pflugerville, TX, Mr. Pride has been teaching, performing, and composing for nearly two decades and has had wonderful opportunities to perform and tour across much of North America and Europe. Getting his start at Texas State University where he earned a Bachelor’s in Music Education, Mr. Pride performed with the wind ensemble, percussion ensemble, steel drum band, and Bobcat Marching Band. Mr. Pride then went on to march and teach for multiple drum corps including Glassmen, Crossmen, Memphis Sound, Forte, and Phantom Regiment and held roles ranging from front ensemble instructor to Battery Coordinator. Mr. Pride has also worked with WGI groups Odyssey Percussion Theatre, Terminus Atlanta Percussion, Austin Independent, Gateway Independent, and Rise Percussion.
Mr. Pride holds a Master’s in Percussion Performance with certificates in Music Theory and College Teaching from the University of Colorado-Boulder, where he performed with the wind ensemble, symphony orchestra, percussion ensemble, latin jazz ensemble, and Brazilian Batéria. He is endorsed by Zildjian, Innovative Percussion, is an Honorary Member of Kappa Kappa Psi, and is a member of the Percussive Arts Society, Texas Music Educators Association, and Texas Bandmaster’s Association. You can learn and hear more about his work at pridepercussion.com. In his free time, Mr. Pride is an avid runner, rock climber, and enjoys spending time with his wife, Dr. Katie Harper, their son Emerson, and dogs Rach (short for Rachmaninoff) and Charlie.
