Staff

Mrs. Emily McNeil

Director of Bands

Emily McNeil is a 2004 graduate of the University of Idaho where she earned her bachelor's degrees in Music Performance and Education. She is originally from Lewiston, Idaho where she graduated from Lewiston High School in 1999. During her time in Idaho, Mrs. McNeil played in many University of Idaho ensembles as well as playing flute and piccolo with the Washington-Idaho Symphony. She taught at the Lionel Hampton Summer Youth Music School from 2001-2004 as well as teaching private flute lessons and building a studio.

In 2004, Mrs. McNeil moved to Greensboro, NC where she worked as a Residence Hall Director, Flute Ensemble Instructor, and Assistant Marching Band Director at Greensboro College. She also played in the Greensboro Community Band, UNCG Wind Ensemble, and University Band. She worked at the UNCG Summer Music Camp as a counselor, flute teacher, and rehearsal assistant for 13 years. In 2006, Mrs. McNeil moved to Ithaca, NY where she was a student at Ithaca College and earned her Masters Degree in Flute Performance in 2008. She continued teaching private lessons and performed as a freelance musician in the Ithaca area until she moved to Salisbury, NC in 2009 where she became the Band Director at East Rowan High School.

During her time at East Rowan High School, Mrs. McNeil enjoyed watching students earn successes including 4 students selected as All-American Marching Band Members, 5 students performing in Carnegie Hall as part of the High School Honors Performance Series, and 1 student performing internationally at the Sydney Opera House and Musikverenin in Austria. Her students have earned numerous superior and excellent ratings from the North Carolina Music Performance Assessment Concert Ensemble Festival under her direction. Mrs. McNeil had the privilege of serving as a chaperone at the High School Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall in 2017, and 2018 as well as attending the 2017 Band Director Academy at the US Army All-American Bowl where she was named National Band Director of the Year.

Mrs. McNeil has played piccolo and flute with the Piedmont Wind Symphony in Winston-Salem, NC since 2009. She continues to perform and direct the instrumental music program at West Cabarrus High School where she is the inaugural band director for the school. Students at West Cabarrus have performed many outstanding performances with wind ensemble, jazz band, marching band, and chamber ensembles including superior and excellent ratings at Concert Band MPA, a superior rating at Jazz Band MPA, and six students performing at Carnegie Hall as part of the High School Honors Performance Series as well as one performing in the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Alumni of the band program at West Cabarrus have gone on to perform with college bands including UNC Charlotte, Western Carolina University, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University, Winston-Salem State University, and UNC Greensboro as well as others. It is an honor to be a part of a new band culture that continues to build and grow. Mrs. McNeil strives to help each student reach and exceed their individual goals as well as helping the band program as a whole to thrive. Mrs. McNeil enjoys sharing her experience to help each area of the band program to grow including concert ensembles, jazz bands, and marching band. Mrs. McNeil's hope is to help students find and build their love of music, not just in high school, but throughout their lives. Her goal is to help them learn what they need to be successful musicians throughout their lives while having fun making music. Go Wolverines!

Mrs. McNeil also serves as the co-Score Catalog Library chair and the Middle School MPA site host as part of the South Central District Bandmasters Association. She is also a member of the National Association for Music Education.

When not doing music activities, Mrs. McNeil enjoys spending time with her husband, John, and daughter, Tenley. They enjoy watching baseball at all levels, traveling to visit family memebers, and spending as much time together as possible.

Ms. Kirsten Maley

Assistant Director/Color Guard Instructor

Ms. Maley is the Choir Director at West Cabarrus and serves as assistant marching band director and color guard instructor. Ms. Maley states, "I am extremely excited to begin a new chapter with all of you and cannot wait to make fantastic memories, overcome challenges, and make amazing music! I have experience teaching all age levels and have graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Music Education. I hope to bring new experiences as well as keeping traditions alive. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me." kirsten.maley@cabarrus.k12.nc.us

Mr. Isaac Brewer

Brass/Marching Instructor

Mr. Isaac Brewer is the band director at Harold E. Winkler Middle School. He started playing trombone in the 6th grade and was bit by the "Band Bug." Mr. Brewer states, "I love performing and teaching all things music including Concert Band, Jazz Band, and you guessed it.....Marching Band!" Mr. Brewer has worked as a brass specialist in the Triad area with marching bands all through his year of college and teaching Middle School Band. Mr Brewer says, "I am excited to continue to share my love of music with the amazing Marching Wolverines at West Cabarrus High School!"

Mr. Alex Litchfield

Percussion Instructor

Alex Litchfield is a current student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) where he is a member of the Pride of Niner Nation Marching Band (PNNMB). He has been playing percussion across multiple levels of schooling since 6th grade (2015) in a variety of different styles including concert, jazz, and of course marching. Upon graduating from Greenville High School (In Greenville, TN) in 2022, Alex was brought back to GHS to serve as one of the schools percussion instructors over the summer before heading out of state to start his higher education at UNCC. Alex plans to graduate in the summer of 2026 with a degree in computer science and a minor in computer engineering.

Mr. Danny Lloyd

Composer/Show Designer

Danny Lloyd is the Director of Bands at The Math and Science Academy in Concord, NC. He has taught, composed, and judged for middle school, high school, collegiate, drum corps and indoor/winter programs in North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida. Mr. Lloyd received a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from Boston University; a Master's Degree in Music Education from Appalachian State University; and a Bachelor's Degree in both Music Education and Music Performance, in Composition and Music Theory, with a Minor Concentration in Percussion Performance studying percussion with Dr. Rob Falvo, Dr. Scott Meister, and Mr. Rick Dilling. Mr. Lloyd marched with the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps in 1993 and is a member of the Carolina Crown Alumni Association and has taught with the Tarheel Sun and Heat Wave Drum and Bugle Corps. In addition, Mr. Lloyd has written articles on drum corps and marching band for Halftime Magazine and Drum Corps World. Mr. Lloyd is originally from Winston-Salem, NC, and is the proud father of Melanie, Alex, and Sara-Alyce.

Mr. Jerry Lowe

Jazz Specialist

Jerry Lowe is enjoying retirement after 43 years in Music Education. (BME 1978, University of Cincinnati C.C.M.; MM 2011 Instrumental Conducting- Winthrop University). After 15 years teaching in the Washington D.C. area, he relocated with his family to Charlotte- accepting the band director position at Northwest School of the Arts when it opened in 1993. He taught there through the spring of 2004 and took a music education position in Lincoln County (N.C.) Schools, before returning to NWSA in the fall of 2016. Besides teaching concert band throughout his career, Jerry taught jazz band, chorus, orchestra, music theory, marching band and percussion ensemble. His performing groups consistently received high ratings at adjudicated events on local, regional, state and interstate levels, including several 1st place awards in the southeast U.S. Over his career Jerry has adjudicated concert band, jazz band and marching band events in several states. He received the “Award of Excellence” in 2016 from the South Central District of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association, and also was voted “Teacher of the Year” in Lincoln County the same year. In 2008 he was honored by UNC-Greensboro with the “Jazz Educator of the Year” award. Jerry enjoys conducting concert and jazz band clinics, and teaches summer concert, jazz and marching band camps in North and South Carolina. He was Chairperson for the NCMEA West Region Jazz Music Performance Adjudication (M.P.A.) event for 17 years, and served as NCMEA State Jazz Section Chair from 2004-06. His professional memberships including the North Carolina Bandmasters Association, NCMEA, JEN, and NAfME. While serving as the NWSA Director of Bands, the High School Jazz Band had the honor of performing at the 2017 and 2001 NCMEA Conferences. The 2001 group also served as the clinic band for noted Jazz educator and composer Dean Sorenson. Jerry is still active with NCMEA and is presently is serving on the Journal Task Force. Notable NWSA alumni include Grammy Award winning jazz artist- Ashlin Parker (New Orleans Jazz Orchestra & Ellis Marsalis Quartet), and two Grammy award nominees- Dr. Michael D’Angelo (The North Texas Univ. 1 O’clock Band) and Darryl Yokley- recognized in 2018 with his “Pictures At An African American Exhibition” Jazz Recording. Other notable alumni from NWSA include Adrian Crutchfield (Prince’s last sax player and horn arranger), Ryan Saranich (reed player for Brit Floyd), Joey Rayfield (Trombonist with the New Power Generation Horns, affiliated with Prince), Al Cannon (former principal trumpet with the Vancouver Symphony, and director of the Vancouver Youth Symphony), and Tim Scott (artist in residence and drum set master for Charlotte Center City Partners). Several of Jerry’s former students are present N.C and S.C. music educators. NWSA Jazz Bands performed at the Piccolo Spoleto Arts Festival in Charleston over Memorial Day weekend between 1998 – 2004. Jerry is entering his 25th year as a member of the tuba section of the Winthrop University based Carolinas Wind Orchestra.

We are excited to welcome Mr. Lowe to the jazz band staff at West Cabarrus High School!

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