Kevin Hamilton
Kevin Hamilton is the director of bands for Wilson High School and the Long Beach Summer Music Academy. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2000 from UCLA and Master of Music degree in 2010 from Sam Houston State University. He currently teaches the Wilson Marching Band and Color Guard, Symphonic Winds, the Wilson Jazz Band, Band 1-2, and two beginning piano courses.
Mr. Hamilton has spent 22 years teaching band and orchestra for the Long Beach Unified School District, first as an assistant director at Millikan High School, then as teacher at both Rogers Middle School and Lowell Elementary School, and then solely at Rogers Middle School. At Rogers, he built his reputation as a passionate, student-centered teacher with the skills necessary to help students perform beyond their years. He attributes his success to the valuable mentorship of Long Beach teaching legends, Andrew Osman (Poly H.S.), Dr. Gary Scott (LBCC) and Roger Johnson (LBCC), as well as longtime UCLA Band Director, Gordon Henderson.
Mr. Hamilton’s career achievements include being a two-time recipient of the Long Beach Council PTA’s “Teacher of the Year” Award (2007-2008 and 2018-2019), receiving a National Band Association Citation of Excellence (2018), being awarded the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association Gold Award (2022), and receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Rogers Middle School PTA (2023). He has been a National Board Certified Teacher since 2018
Mr. Hamilton is a product of the LBUSD, Holmes Elementary, Mark Twain Elementary, Bancroft Middle School, and Lakewood High School.
khamilton@lbschools.net
Michelle Ellis
Ms. Ellis teaches Intermediate Orchestra, String Orchestra, Symphony Strings, Symphonic Winds, Advanced Chamber Strings and Symphony Orchestra. She is a product of LBUSD schools, Fremont, Jefferson, Wilson, LBCC and has her BA of Music for Violin Performance from CSULB. She taught at Rogers 1998-2001 and Wilson HS since 2010.
MREllis@lbschools.net