Hello! I am Matt DiDonna and I am looking forward to another great year as the band director at Githens Middle School. I am excited to work with all of our returning students and all of our beginners who are just starting.  You do not need to know how to play an instrument to start as a beginner, all are welcome! Come on into the band room and we'll make the magic happen! 

This will be my 16th year of teaching music in public schools and my 5th year at Githens Middle. I have taught Middle School Music for 4 and 1/2 years in New Jersey as well as Elementary Music for 4 and 1/2 years in Wake County before moving up to Rolesville Middle School where I taught 2 years of year-long band.  I was very excited to start the next chapter of my life as Band Director at Githens Middle School in the fall of 2019.  My wife Mackenzie and I have a baby boy named Evan who also loves music and have a big 11 year old dog named Booker who loves to be lazy & chew up tennis balls.

I grew up in Toms River, New Jersey where I started playing music in 4th grade on percussion, which I still play on a regular basis with jazz bands and musicals in the area.  I am very fortunate to have experienced many different band directors in my childhood, all of whom sent me on the right path in pursuing music.  I continued my music career by earning my Bachelors of Music Degree from Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.  The professors at Rowan University are world-class teachers and I am forever thankful to all of them.

I’m grateful to have been a part of many musical projects and performances including: Leading the Blame It On My Youth Jazz Orchestra; Playing Percussion with North Carolina Arts in Action; Pit Musician with Theatre Raleigh, St. Mary's School, William Peace University and the Chapel Hill School of the Musical Arts; two summers as a resident percussionist at the Weston Playhouse in Vermont; numerous jazz quartets on the Weaver Street Market Lawn, and a weekly jazz gig on Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ while looking out at the Manhattan Skyline & the Statue of Liberty as they changed from day to night - what a wonderful landscape!

I look forward to a fun and eventful year with everyone, making music and perfecting our skills as musicians and life-long learners!