OUR DIRECTORS

William Bennett

Mr. Bennett is the Director of Choirs at Cane Bay High School and the Director of Music at Summerville Presbyterian Church.  He was selected as a top 10 finalist for the 2015 GRAMMY Music Educator Award and a top 25 Semi-Finalist for the 2023 GRAMMY Music Educator Award.  He was the 2009-2010 Cane Bay High School Teacher of the Year.  He has led clinics on leadership in a music classroom, choral techniques, and sight singing for SCMEA and SC ACDA, and has served as a choral clinician for SCMEA Middle School Clinics.  He served as the SC ACDA President (2017 - 2019) and on the Solo and Ensemble and All-State Committees for SCMEA

Choirs under his direction have performed at multiple SC ACDA and SCMEA Conferences, the ACDA Chattanooga and Mobile Southern Division Conferences, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and in the Washington National Cathedral. Cane Bay Choirs consistently receive Superior ratings with Distinction and Grand Champion distinctions at numerous choral festivals, including being named the 2016 AAAA State Champions and the 2019 Palmetto State Choral Festival Grand Champions.  Additionally, they were named the 2018 and 2022 Georgia Southern Invitational Grand Champions, the 2016 Lander Choral Festival Champions and the 2017 College of Charleston choral invitational Grand Champions.

Previous appointments include: Conductor of the University Chorus and Adjunct Professor of Music at the College of Charleston; Assistant Conductor of the Taylor Festival Choir; and Associate Director of Choirs at Wando High School.  

He holds a Masters Degree in Music: Choral and Orchestral Conducting from Louisiana State University where he studied conducting with Dr. Kenneth Fulton, Dr. Sara Lynn Baird and Dr. Julian Shew.  While there, Mr. Bennett also served as the Director of the LSU Tiger Glee Club and as a Graduate Assistant.  Mr. Bennett performed as a guest conductor, choir member and soloist with the LSU A Cappella Choir, LSU Schola Cantorum, LSU Chamber Singers and the LSU Orchestra.  

He holds a BA in Music: Vocal Performance from the College of Charleston, where he graduated Cum Laude.  He was the inaugural recipient of the Charleston Men’s Chorus Scholarship at the College of Charleston.  Mr. Bennett studied conducting with Dr. Robert Taylor and voice with  Mrs. Deanna McBroom and Mr.  Ross Magoulas.  At "the College" he also served as the Student Assistant Conductor of the College of Charleston Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers. 

As a singer, he has performed with the College of Charleston Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Choir and Chamber Singers, the Charleston Men's Chorus, The Taylor Festival Choir, CofC Opera and for Opera Workshop performances at the College of Charleston. He played the role of the Royal Chamberlain in Celius Dougherty’s one-act opera, Many Moons for the 2004 Piccolo Spoleto Theatre Series.  Mr Bennett was a guest soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chamber Singers in their Piccolo Spoleto performance of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610.  He was also a featured soloist in a performance of Serenade to Music by Ralph Vaughn Williams with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for the NCCO National Conference in Charleston. 

Katie Hardwick

Katie Hardwick is the Associate Director of Choirs at Cane Bay High School. In addition to her daily course work, she also serves as the Drum Major and Visuals Tech for the Cane Bay High School Marching Band. She has been selected as a teacher of the year finalist as well as the 2016-2017 Rookie Teacher of the Year. She has served as a choral clinician for Middle Schools throughout the state as well as led clinics on teaching students with specials needs in the music classroom to colleges across the Southeast. She is a member of ACDA, NAfME, and SCMEA. Choirs under her direction have achieved superior rating numerous times at Concert Performance Assessment and are frequently sought after to perform at community events. 

Previously, she held the appointment of Director of Choirs at Cane Bay Middle School from 2016-2023 where she taught 5-8th grade choir, inclusion general music, and a Project Unify course. 

She holds a Bachelors Degree in Music Education: Instrument and Choral Education from Belmont University where she studied with Dr. Jeffery Ames, Dr. Barry Kraus, and Dr. Madeline Bridges. While there, she interned with the University Women's Choir, Under the direction of Dr. Lesley Mann, was the co-principal flutist in the Symphony Orchestra and the University Wind Ensemble as well as the principal piccolo player for both ensembles. She was also an accomplished concertist and performed often with ensembles across the college, both commercial and classical. 

Mrs. Hardwick is currently working towards her Masters Degree in Choral Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College at Rider University.

As a singer she has performed with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, where she was briefly the soprano section leader, the Taylor Festival Choir, Church of the Holy Communion, and is now the Soprano Section Leader at Bishop Gadsden in Charleston, SC. She has also performs regularly with the Franklin Chamber Choir in Franklin, Tennessee. As a flute player, she frequently plays for churches throughout Charleston as well as performs with the Charleston Wind Symphony.