Embedded Files
Executive Board
D3 President
Nick Wupper
Fruitland High School Bands
D3 Vice President-Elect
Josh Barro
Nick Wupper is the Director of Bands at Fruitland High School in Fruitland, ID. Nick graduated from Meridian High School and got his Bachelors degree in Music Education from Boise State University. He taught for two years in the West Ada School District before moving out to teach at Fruitland Middle School. In 2023, he took over the High School Band position. Nick was a founding board member of the Idaho Indoor Circuit striving to provide performance and adjudication opportunities for one of the fastest growing performance mediums in the country. He currently resides in Fruitland with his wife and twin daughters.
D3 Secretary
Cathryn Gardner
Monroe, Jefferson, Hillcrest and Whitney Elementaries
Cathryn Gardner is a Chicago native and attended Illinois Wesleyan University, graduating with a Bachelors of Music Education in 2015. After graduating, she taught for four years as the K-12 teacher in the Bruneau-Grand View School District in Grand View, Idaho. She completed her Master’s in Clarinet Performance in 2021 from Boise State University, where she studied clarinet and conducting. Cathryn currently is in her third year teaching 5th/6th grade band in the Boise School District, and freelances in the area as an accompanist, private teacher and music director.
D3 Website Administrator
Peggy McGrorty
Choir, Band, and Orchestra, Renaissance High School
D3 Membership Coordinator
Bobbie Lockett
Originally from Anchorage, AK, Peggy earned her B.M. in Music Education in 2016 and her M.M. in Music Education in 2021, both from Boise State University. She taught for three years as the Band, Orchestra, and Choir Director at Renaissance High School in Meridian. During her master's program, she was a Graduate Assistant under Dr. Lori Gray. After her master's degree, Peggy taught K-6 General Music and Choir for three years. This is her second year back at Renaissance High School as the Choral and Instrumental Music Director. In her free time, Peggy enjoys spending time with her family, playing board games, and entertaining her two cats.
Content Area Chairs
D3 High School Choir Chair
Andrew Percifield
Owyhee High School Choir
percifield.andrew@westada.org
T.J. Eriksen holds a Master of Music Performance, as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Music Performance and Music Education from the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho. Since 2008, T.J. has served as Director of Bands at Eagle High School, where his ensembles have consistently been recognized for excellence at festivals and competitions. The program has been featured three times at the Idaho Music Educators All-State Conference and has premiered commissioned works by composers including Greg Yasinitsky, Rob Walker, Jeff Chambers, Dr. Vern Sielert, and Daniel Bukvich. Beyond his work at Eagle, Mr. Eriksen contributes to music education through service with the West Ada School District, Idaho District III Music Educators, and in the past with the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Advisory Board, the Gene Harris Jazz Festival Advisory Board, and Idaho State Department of Education committees on humanities standards, and teacher preparation.
An active performer, Mr. Eriksen has appeared with the Boise Philharmonic, Treasure Valley Concert Band, Kings of Swing, and $oul Purpo$e. He currently performs with the Boise Modern Jazz Orchestra and the Boise Saxophone Quartet. His collaborative credits include performances with The Four Tops, The Supremes, The Temptations, Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Claudio Roditi, Jeff Hamilton, John Clayton, Bill Watrous, Wycliffe Gordon, Chuck Findley, Randy Brecker, and Dave Liebman. T.J. is an active as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the Northwest.
Awards and Accomplishments
Idaho Music Educators Association Music Educator of the Year (2018)
Idaho District III Music Educator of the Year (2023)
Idaho Master Educator
Eagle High School Teacher of the Year (2014)
N.A.M.M. Best Community for Music Education Award recipient
Grammy Music Educator Award Semi-Finalist
Ensembles featured multiple times at Idaho All-State Conferences
WGI Percussion Concert Scholastic A World Champions (2024)
Secured over $150,000 in grant funding
Nick Harker, Orchestra Director at Idaho Arts Charter School and one of the co-founders and Music Director of the Canyon County Symphony, is an innovative and flexible conductor with a decade of experience in professional, community, and educational ensemble conducting. He has not only conducted in an orchestral setting, but also in the opera and ballet pits, as well as recording and film studios. He recently led the Sinfonia at the College of Idaho and the Keene State College Chamber Orchestra in New Hampshire. He has also held conducting positions with the Salt Lake Symphony, Utah Philharmonic, Utah Philharmonia, West Jordan Symphony, and the Evanston Civic Orchestra. He has worked regularly as a clinician and guest conductor with public schools across Idaho, New Hampshire, and Utah. As a violinist he has performed with the Salt Lake Symphony, Idaho Falls Symphony, West Jordan Symphony, the Utah Philharmonic, and more.
Growing up in a musical family, he developed a love of music from an early age. He obtained his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Utah where he studied primarily with Dr. Robert Baldwin, and his Masters in Music in Orchestral Conducting at Brigham Young University, studying primarily under Kory Katseanes and Dr. Don Peterson. As an undergraduate at Brigham Young University-Idaho, he studied violin under Dr. Dallin Hansen and earned an undergraduate degree in music education. Some of his other mentors include Jeffery Meyer, John Nardolillo, Thomas Heuser, Roger Kalia, Mark Gibson, and Kenneth Kiesler.
He is married to his wonderful wife and has two young boys. He also enjoys composing, playing basketball, and skiing.
Nicole Elder teaches K-5 General Music at Owyhee Elementary School in the Nampa School District. She earned her Bachelors degree from Northwest Nazarene University in 2017 and has loved teaching elementary ever since. Nicole is passionate about creating a genuine love of music and creating life-long, active participants in all forms of music. She is a vocalist and tuba player. Outside of work, Nicole loves to spend time with her husband (she was recently married in April 2023!) and her family, who all live here in the Treasure Valley. Nicole is excited to bring light and rigor to the elementary schools in the valley and make a place for the elementary vision at the IMEA table.
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