Matt Conaway

Matthew R. Conaway was appointed to the Purdue faculty in August 2012 as
an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to the rank of Associate
Professor with tenure in July 2018. He serves as an associate director
of the famed “All-American” Marching Band, directs the “Boiler
Brass” Men’s Basketball Pep Band, and conducts the
Purdue Symphonic Band and Varsity Band. He also serves as the
department’s technology coordinator, and coordinates the Volunteer
Management Team. He is responsible for coordinating marching band
travel, and has organized trips around the Big Ten, as well as a
significant performance experience in Medellín, Colombia in 2015.
He has mentored many student organizations, previously serving as
sponsor for the Beta Sigma chapter of Tau Beta Sigma, the Gamma Pi
chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, the Band & Orchestra Technology Office, and
the Purdue Musical LGBTQ+ Society. Conaway also serves the university
as a member of the Purdue University Senate, and serves on both the
Student Affairs Committee and the Advisory Committee on Equity.

Prior to his appointment to Purdue’s faculty, Conaway served for ten
years as the Director of Bands for the West Lafayette Community School
Corporation, during which time the program received many state and
national accolades for musical excellence. He brought back the Marching
“Red Devil” Band, basketball pep band, jazz band, and symphony
orchestra to the music department, and raised band program enrollment by
over 200 students in grades 5-12. During his tenure, West Lafayette
became regarded as one of the great small-school music programs in
Indiana, with two state concert finals appearances and dozens of
superior festival ratings. Under Conaway’s leadership, the NAMM
Foundation recognized the West Lafayette Community School Corporation as
one of the “Best Communities for Music Education in America” in
2006, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Conaway is an award-winning, internationally-known composer for concert
bands, with over fifty original works currently in publication. His
compositions range from very beginning through very advanced, based on
his experience working with all levels of performers in grade 5-12,
collegiate, and professional ensembles. He has received commissions
from many schools and honor bands in the last five years. Conaway was
honored to experience his Carnegie Hall debut in March 2016 with a world
premiere performance by the Purdue Wind Ensemble.

He is also an accomplished arranger, and has written for athletic bands
at Indiana University, Purdue University, and many high schools and
colleges throughout the country. Millions of people have heard
Conaway’s arrangements at multiple festivals, bowl games, basketball
tournaments, and other major sporting events since 1999. His
compositions and arrangements are available globally.

After graduating from Woodhaven (MI) High School in 1997, Conaway
attended Indiana University – Bloomington, where he studied arranging
with David Woodley. He received his Bachelor of Music Education with
Distinction in 2001, and earned a Masters of Music degree from the
American Band College of Sam Houston State University in 2010. He is a
member of NAfME, CBDNA, NBA, Indiana Music Educators Association,
Indiana Bandmasters Association, and ASCAP. He is an honorary member of
Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi, and was recently inducted into the
Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Mu. He is in demand as a clinician and
adjudicator at concert and marching band festivals and competitions
throughout the United States.