Mr. Ellis Kilgore
Director of Bands
Mr Kilgore received his Master’s of Music Education degree in May of 1996 from Texas Christian University (TCU), where he was awarded “Graduate Assistant of the Year” honors. Mr Kilgore founded the still-existing Jazz Combo program at TCU in January 1995.
Mr Kilgore’s first position as a Band Director was at Irving Nimitz High School, in Irving, Texas. He led the non-Varsity Band to Sweepstakes awards in three of his four years there.
In the years after Irving Nimitz, Mr Kilgore served as Director of Bands, first at Malakoff ISD, then at Burkburnett ISD, where he was also Supervisor of Fine Arts for the District. Some achievements during this time period (2003-2008) include:
*Guest Clinician for numerous bands, including Athens College and the Racine Scouts
*Teacher of the Year 2003-2004
*Awarded Who’s Who of American Teachers for three consecutive years
*Led the Malakoff Band to their first First-Division Marching Performance in over thirty years
*Established the first Band Booster Club in Malakoff, which is still running strong to this day
*Taught two First Chair All-State musicians, one on Trombone, the other on Saxophone
*An average of 14 students qualified for the State Solo and Ensemble Contest while at Burkburnett.
*Served as Judge for All-State auditions, at both the High School and College levels
Mr Kilgore arrived at Southwest Independent School District in July of 2008. Mr Kilgore’s Southwest HS Non-Varsity Band competed at Concert and Sightreading Contest, where they earned First Division Awards in Concert and Sightreading in April of 2009. During these years (2008-2011), Mr Kilgore supervised the Southwest Dragon Winter Guard. During his time there, the guard grew from 8 students to 26 students. In May of 2011, the Winter Guard won the State Championship for their caption.
When the Freshman Campus opened for Fall of 2009, Mr Kilgore was awarded Head Director of the Freshman Band. In April of 2010, the Freshman competed against other 9th-12th grade bands across the Region. At the UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest, they earned the Sweepstakes Award for First Divisions in both Concert and in Sightreading.
During his time at the Freshman Campus, Mr Kilgore developed a passion for working with younger students. He transferred to Middle School as the Assistant Director of the Scobee Tiger Band. In March of 2014, he led the Non-Varsity Scobee Band to perfect ratings. This was the first time in history that the Scobee Non-Varsity Band received the Sweepstake Award. In his time at Scobee, the number of Region Band students increased from 2 in Fall 2011 to 18 in Fall 2013. The Scobee Band Students earned more than 350 first division medals in the three years that Mr Kilgore was there. While at Scobee, Mr Kilgore also served as the Director of the SWISD Middle School Fine Arts Academy, Band Division (June of 2014), which had two hundred participants.
Mr Kilgore finally found his true home at McAuliffe Middle School. This is his seventh year at McAuliffe, sixth as Head Director. Since arriving at McAuliffe, more than fifty students have qualified for the All-Region Band. He has led the McAuliffe Rocket Band to First Division ratings every year that he conducted them in concert, the first time in McAuliffe history that the Band received First Division ratings for four consecutive years. In 2018, the Non-Varsity Band also received First Division ratings, which was the first time in the history of the school.
Mr Kilgore’s philosophy is as follows: “My goal is to help each Band student become a better person when they leave Middle School than they were when they entered Middle School. My hope is they take what they have learned from the McAuliffe Band program and apply it to the rest of their lives, which will lead them to increased success and, ultimately, happiness”.