Jon B. Gilliland recently retired after 35 years in education having served as a music educator in Illinois and Indiana and as the Fine Arts administrator with the Appleton and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin school districts. 

Gilliland received a BME degree from Illinois State University.  He holds masters and doctorate degrees in music education and administration from the University of Illinois.  He has taught band, choir, general music, music theory, and music history and appreciation from kindergarten through college, and served as a field supervisor for student teachers in music and as a “conducting fellow” with the U of I Department of University Bands.  Most recently, Gilliland served as interim Dean of Students at Fond du Lac High School, is a music education consultant with a number of mid-western school districts, and is conducting a longterm research study regarding high school students’ participation in music courses.

Dr. Gilliland has presented sessions at state, regional, and national music conferences andhas directed band and choir clinics and festivals throughout the Midwest.  He is a past president of the Wisconsin Music Educators Association, a member of its publications committee, and serves on the board of directors for the Wisconsin School Music Association.  He is past president of the Wisconsin Association of Music Curriculum Directors and has served on the boards of the Wisconsin Alliance for Arts Education, the Fond du Lac Symphonic Band, and the Fox Valley Symphony.  He was named to the National Council for Band Music Education of the National Association for Music Education (formerly MENC) and has been selected as the manager for the band division of the NAfME National Honors Ensembles.  Gilliland has taught music education and education courses as an adjunct instructor at Marian University, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  He also served the Illinois Music Education Association as a district president and was a member of the finance committee.

He records with the Illinois State University Alumni Band, has performed with the Clan Donald Pipes and Drums, the Fond du Lac Symphonic Band, the South Shores Chorale, and “Vocal Tapestry” (a small vocal ensemble associated with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), and is the Senior Choir Director at Salem United Methodist Church in Fond du Lac.

Gilliland is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, National Association for Music Education, Wisconsin Music Educators Association, Phi Delta Kappa, Kappa Delta Pi, and works with the Bay Lakes Council of the Boy Scouts of America.  

For a list of comments regarding some of my earlier work, check the testimonials page.