Originally from Pineville, NC, Mr. Michael T. Sanders currently serves as the Director of Instrumental Music, Choral Music, and AP Music Theory at John Taylor Williams Secondary Montessori in Charlotte, NC, where 45% of the school’s total population is enrolled in one or more music classes. This is his seventh year at Williams Montessori and his twenty-first year in public school music education.

Mr. Sanders holds a Bachelor of Music Education from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where he specialized in Music Education and French Horn. His previous teaching roles include positions at Lexington Middle School (NC), Durham School of the Arts in Durham, NC, and Northwest School of the Arts and Winterfield Elementary School in Charlotte, NC.

Since 2011, Mr. Sanders has been a teaching artist for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s Project Harmony, a collaboration with Arts+ (formerly Community School of the Arts) focused on instrumental music instruction for grades 2-5. He is also the Co-Founder of the Greater Charlotte Summer Arts Camp, now in its sixth year, offering visual and performing arts instruction for students ages 6-12. For twenty years, he has served as a counselor and camp band conductor at the UNCG Summer Music Camp. Additionally, he performs as a French horn player in the Catawba River Winds based in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Mr. Sanders attributes his love for music to the Final Fantasy video game series, with a special admiration for Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu, whose iconic scores inspired his early passion and curiosity for musical expression. He actively contributes to the music education community, holding memberships in the North Carolina Bandmasters Association (NCBA), North Carolina Music Educators Association (NCMEA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He currently co-chairs the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) Middle School Honors Band, represents middle school music on the CMS Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council, leads as the CMS AP Music Theory coordinator, and serves on the community advisory board for Charlotte’s classical music radio station, WDAV. Additionally, he frequently serves as a guest clinician for honor bands across North and South Carolina and provides mentorship to student musicians in local middle and high schools, including the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestras.

In his free time, Mr. Sanders enjoys video gaming, electronics repair, and spending time with family and friends.

Hunter Soots is a native of Caldwell County and a 2011 graduate of Appalachian State University with his bachelor’s degree in instrumental music education, Cum Laude. Mr. Soots is a flutist and pianist and serves as the Band Director at Hibriten High School in Lenoir, NC. Mr. Soots also serves as the pianist at College Avenue Baptist Church, also located in Lenoir, NC. Mr. Soots has taught public high school choir and band for the past 13 years. 

Mr. Soots’ bands and choirs have received straight superior ratings at concert MPAs and music festivals throughout the southeast. In 2018, Mr. Soots was awarded the “ASBDA Edgar Q. Rooker Encore Award” at NCMEA music conference. This award recognizes band directors that have shown promise and distinction within their first seven years of teaching band. 

Mr. Soots serves as the Northwest District all-district middle school auditions chair, and the Northwest District executive board. Outside of music, Mr. Soots serves on the board of the Caldwell County Wig Bank, which is a non-profit organization that helps female cancer patients receive wigs at no cost, plus other services that help families who are battling cancer. 

Mr. Soots’s professional memberships include NAFME, NCMEA, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.