Directors
Grant Harbison Grant Harbison is in his eighth year as the Director of Bands and Coordinator of Instrumental Music for Jonesboro Public Schools. He began his career as the Assistant Band Director at West Memphis High School and then became the Assistant Band Director at Jonesboro prior to his current position. Grant is an alumnus of Jonesboro High School, graduating in 2003. His post-secondary work includes a Bachelor of Music Education from Arkansas State University and a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas.
Mr. Harbison has performed under the direction of Eugene Corporon, David Itkin, Graham Jenkins, Leonard Slatkin, and Steve Warner and with musicians such as Dave Brubeck, Jon Faddis and The Temptations. He has also recorded with the University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra and the University of North Texas Wind Symphony on the GIA label.
His professional memberships include Phi Beta Mu, Arkansas Bandmaster’s Association, and Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association. Professional offices held have been Secretay or Arkansas Jazz Educators, Treasurer of Region ASBOA V, and Chairman of Region V. Currently, he is on the board of Phi Beta Mu.
In 2010 Grant was awarded the Raymond and Ruth Brandon Memorial Scholarship by ASBOA and in 2014 Phi Beta Mu named him the Arkansas Young Band Director of the Year. In 2021 the Arkansas Department of Education and the Milken Educator Awards named him a Milken Educator.
He and his wife, Shuggy, live in Jonesboro with their two dogs, Tonks and Hattie.
Mr. Trent Warner is in his first year as the Assistant Band Director of The Jonesboro Band where he assists with The Jonesboro Marching Band, directs the Jonesboro Concert Winds and leads the Jonesboro Jazz Band. Mr. Warner also teaches the beginning clarinet, saxophone and double reed classes at Annie Camp Junior High and Douglas MacArthur Junior High.
Prior to his appointment at the Academies at Jonesboro High School, Mr. Warner has served as the Director of Bands at Annie Camp Junior High School since the fall of 2015 where his bands consistently received superior ratings on stage and in sight reading at Region Concert Assessment.
A product of the Jonesboro band program, he received his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Central Arkansas and a Master's Degree in Saxophone Performance from Texas Christian University where he served as a Graduate Assistant, principle alto saxophone in the TCU Wind Symphony under Mr. Bobby Francis, and lead tenor saxophone in the TCU Jazz Ensemble under Mr. Joe Eckert.
Mr. Warner received the Raymond and Ruth Brandon Scholarship awarded to outstanding first year music educators in 2015. Mr. Warner also performs with the Jazz Writer's Big Band, a local community jazz band, led by Dr. Ken Carroll.
Ben White is the Director of Percussion for Jonesboro Public Schools.
Seth Jansen is the director of the MacArthur Junior High band program, co-teacher for the JHS Marching Band and Jonesboro Jazz, and assists at Annie Camp Junior High. Seth grew up as a member of two of the most respected band programs in the state. He was a member of the Pocahontas High School Band and graduated in 2010 from the Jonesboro High School Band. After high school, Mr. Jansen attended Arkansas State University. AIong with being a proud member of the Sound of the Natural State, he was continuously in the top ensembles and took on many leadership roles throughout the department. In December of 2014, he graduated with honors, achieving his Bachelor's Degree in Instrumental Music Education.
During Mr. Jansen's collegiate career he took advantage of any playing or teaching opportunity that he was presented. He helped organize a trip for the ASU Trumpet Ensemble to go to Italy, where they got to perform in historic halls and cathedrals. He spent summers teaching camps, and after school hours teaching trumpet lessons. He was also in the 2014 ASU Wind Ensemble that was selected to perform in the annual CBDNA conference. In the fall of 2014, Mr. Jansen finished his secondary studies by interning at West Memphis High School under Arkansas Bandmaster, Cathy Williams. This experience prepared him for his first job at Jonesboro High School.
Seth's professional memberships include Arkansas Bandmaster's Association and Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association. In 2015 he was awarded the Raymond and Ruth Brandon Memorial Scholarship by ASBOA. He is currently in his second year of teaching and couldn't see himself doing anything else.
Seth is the proud owner of two very rambunctious pups, Floyd and Pepper.
Kaitlin Roll is a native of central Arkansas where she spent a majority of her life. Although originally from Indiana, Ms. Roll's family took up residency in Benton, AR when she was a young child. Her parents, grandparents, and younger brother still live in Benton today.
She was a successful product of the Bryant Band Program and graduated from Bryant High School in 2010. Kaitlin attended Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, AR from 2010-2014 and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music in Education (successfully condensing a normally 5 year degree plan into 4) .
Following graduation, she began her first job in West Memphis, AR were she served as the Assistant Band Director at the Academies of West Memphis for five years. In 2018, Kaitlin was named Phi Beta Mu's Outstanding Young Band Director for the state of Arkansas, and in 2019, she received her Master of Music in Education from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
She has now joined the band staff in Jonesboro Public Schools and is the band director at Annie Camp Junior High. She is excited to be in Jonesboro and be surrounded by such a supportive community of the arts