EAST MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND DIRECTOR
Mr. Corbin Hutchison was the Director of Bands at Grand Blanc High School from August 2003 through July of 2023. Mr. Hutchison is a graduate from Michigan State University where he received his Bachelor Degree in Music Education, and his Masters Degree from Vandercook College of Music in Chicago Ill. Mr. Hutchison was the Assistant Band Director for the Durand Area Schools in Durand, Michigan for four years before coming to Grand Blanc. He has been an active percussion instructor since 1991, where he has worked with several ensembles, including the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps, Michigan State Comp. Line, and the Plymouth Canton Educational Park Marching Band. While at MSU, he performed with the MSU Symphonic Orchestra, MSU Wind Symphony, various MSU Percussion Ensembles, and the MSU Competitive Drumline. Mr. Hutchison is also a 1989 Grand Blanc High School Alumni.
In 2005 the GBCS Board of Education honored Mr. Hutchison for his work with the music program, and in 2010 and 2018 was named the GBHS Elective Teacher of the Year.
In March of 2013 he received the high school “Student Advocate” Award for his continued work to help students with special needs thrive in the music program. In 2013, MSBOA District 3 voted Mr. Hutchison “Teacher of the Year”.
In 2014, Grand Blanc Chamber of Commerce named Mr. Hutchison as “Educator of the Year”.
In 2023, Mr. Hutchison was named "Teacher of the Year" by the Saginaw Valley High School Association.
This is Mr. Hutchison's third year as EMS Band Director.
WEST MIDDLE SHOOL BAND DIRECTOR
Mr. Jacob Finkbeiner has been the Director of Bands at Grand Blanc West Middle School since August 2016, and was the Assistant Director at the high school from 2009-2016. Mr. Finkbeiner received his Bachelor Degree in Music Education from Alma College in 2007, and his Masters Degree in Percussion Performance at Michigan State University. Prior to coming to Grand Blanc, Mr. Finkbeiner taught adjunct percussion lessons at Alma College in 2008, and has worked with the drumline for the Alma College Kiltie Marching Band since 2006. In addition to teaching at Alma, Mr. Finkbeiner has worked with various high school percussion sections throughout the state, and taught private percussion lessons since 2002.
As a performer, Mr. Finkbeiner has played at the Detroit Jazz Festival, Jazz Port Townsend (Port Townsend, WA), and the Michigan Music Conference with the Alma College Percussion Ensemble, and has substituted with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra, Midland Symphony Orchestra, and the Bijou Orchestra.
Currently, he plays with Third Coast Steel, a Mid-Michigan based Steel Drum Trio.
HIGH SCHOOL BAND DIRECTOR / WEST MIDDLE BAND DIRECTOR
Mr. Austin Tripp currently holds the position of Director of Bands at Grand Blanc High School, a role he assumed in June 2023. He possesses a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Michigan Flint, where he completed his student teaching under the guidance of Mr. Scott Pries in Imlay City.
Before joining the staff at Grand Blanc, Mr. Tripp was the Choir and Band Director and Fine Arts Department Chair at Powers Catholic High School from October 2022 to June 2023. During his tenure at Powers, he consistently emphasized student growth and fostered enriching experiences within the Powers Catholic High School Band Program. In this capacity, he effectively led various ensembles, including the Chargers Marching Band, Pep Band, Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble, and Orchestra Pit.
Having once been a student of Grand Blanc High School himself, Mr. Tripp has previously served as a Visual Staff Member for the Grand Blanc High School Marching Band from 2016 to 2019, prior to assuming the role of Visual Caption Head at Fenton High School.
Beyond his professional commitments, Mr. Tripp enjoys engaging in activities such as basketball, music arranging/composing, and collaborative performances with his peers and colleagues.
HIGH SCHOOL BAND DIRECTOR / PIC BAND DIRECTOR
Mr. Klee, is a native of Lake Orion,MI and was most recently the K-12 Music & Band Director at Dryden Community Schools. He graduated from The University of Southern Mississippi in 2022 with his Bachelor’s of Music Education from the Honors College and is currently working on his Masters in K-12 Education Administration at Michigan State University. He has marched 11 seasons of marching band including seasons at Lake Orion HS, the Lake Orion Winter Colorguard, the 2018 U.S. Army All American Marching Band, and the Pride of Mississippi marching band. He also has taught as a music and visual technician at Lake Orion High School’s marching band since 2020 and was most recently Dakota High School’s saxophone technician. His primary instrument is saxophone while his secondary is euphonium for which he was a section leader at Southern Miss.
In his first year at Dryden, Mr. Klee increased membership by 240% in the high school band while leading the program to performances at Little Caesars Arena, opening weekend at Comerica Park as well as a collaborative concert with the Lake Orion High School Wind Ensemble. He believes in cultivating a positive and inclusive learning environment where all students feel comfortable and challenged to grow musically while becoming the best individuals they can be as well.
When not busy teaching, you can find Mr. Klee going to concerts, music festivals, thrifting, working out, enjoying poetry, taking care of animals on the family farm, and café-hopping. “I am incredibly excited to work for the amazing Grand Blanc Bands and cannot wait to work with the wonderful students and staff!”