Mr. Tarter

Mr. Tarter is in his 37^th year of teaching. This is his 32^nd year in the Scottsdale School District. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education (1978) from the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho and Master of Music in Choral Conducting (1984) from Arizona State University where he studied under Dr. Douglas R. McEwen and Dr. David Stocker.

Mr. Tarter has taught private music lessons in the areas of voice, guitar, piano, and trumpet. He has held numerous church choir director positions and has performed in college and community theater productions (La Boheme, Marriage of Figaro, I Pagliacci, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Once Upon a Mattress, Oklahoma, Fiddler On the Roof, Kiss Me Kate, and Scrooge to name a few). Mr. Tarter performs professionally and conducted the Scottsdale Community College’s Community Choir for four years.

Before coming to Arizona Mr. Tarter taught high school choir in Idaho for four years. After receiving his Master’s degree and teaching one year of elementary vocal music in Phoenix, Mr. Tarter began teaching in the Scottsdale School District. Mr. Tarter taught 10 years at Saguaro H. S. and in the fall of 1995 Mr. Tarter began the choir program at Desert Mountain High School and taught there for 11 years. His choirs has consistently received top awards at festivals and competitions including Superior ratings and first place rankings. Mr. Tarter received music educator awards from the World of Music festivals in 1991 and 1994. Mr. Tarter has also taught at Mohave Middle School, Mountainside Middle School, Tonalea Elementary School, and Chaparral High School.

Mr. Tarter has been the musical director for many high school productions including: Carnival, Annie Get Your Gun, Once Upon a Mattress, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Oklahoma, Fiddler On The Roof, Oliver, Guys and Dolls, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Godspell, Grease, The Music Man, Pirates of Penzance, Honk, Anything Goes, Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and others. He also conducts musicals at Sequoya for the Spring program. These musicals include: Annie, Once Upon a Mattress, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and most recently, The Wizard of Oz.

Email: wtarter@susd.org

Classroom Phone: (480) 484-3200 Ext. 5203

For additional information, please click on the links below or to the right.

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