BAY Winds Conductors

Matthew McCutchen has served on the University of South Florida’s music faculty since 2009, first as the Director of Athletic Bands for nine years and then as the Director of Bands since 2018. His responsibilities at USF include conducting the Wind Ensemble, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in Conducting, Wind Band Literature, and Music Education, and serving as the Assistant Director of the School of Music.

McCutchen earned a Ph.D. in Music Education with an emphasis in Instrumental Conducting from Florida State University, a Master of Music degree in Conducting from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Furman University. Before coming to USF, he taught middle school in Georgia, high school in Virginia, and served as an adjunct instructor at Virginia Commonwealth University for several semesters.

McCutchen is active as a guest conductor and clinician. He is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Florida Wind Band and the Founder and Conductor of the Bay Area Youth (BAY) Winds, which features many of the finest high school musicians throughout the Tampa Area. He has been published in the National Band Association’s Journal, the 7th and 8th editions, and the “Solos with Wind Band Accompaniment” editions of the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, The Instrumentalist, VMEA Notes, and The Florida Music Director. He is the Chair of the National Band Association’s William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest Committee, is a member of the John Philip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor Selection Committee, and holds memberships in numerous national and statewide professional organizations. In 2022 he was elected to the prestigious American Bandmasters Association.