Although Brittany Swindoll spent most of her life in the field of music before coming four years ago to teach music at the Petal School District, becoming band director of the district wasn’t something that was necessarily on her radar until about a year ago.
At that point, she thought it would be a while before that possibility became available, but it ended up coming much sooner than that, as Swindoll was recently named to that position after the recent resignation of former director Mike Garnand.
“The thought just started coming into my head that maybe I want to be the Petal High School band director one year,” Swindoll said. “I thought I had a couple of years, and here we are. It’s kind of weird how it worked out – it was a weight off my heart and placed at my feet, so I’m really excited.
“I absolutely love this band program. I grew up just down the road in Ellisville, and I always saw the Petal band and wanted to be a part of it, and now that I am, as an adult, I’m really thankful to be here. The kids are excited, and we’re excited to take the program to a new level.”
Swindoll began college at Jones County Junior College – now Jones College – where she studied with Sammy Barr, Matt Pickering and Carrie Strickland. She earned her bachelor’s degree in music education in 2012 from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she held positions in the USM Wind Ensemble under Thomas Fraschillo; USM Symphonic Winds and the Pride of Mississippi Marching Band under Mohamad Schuman; and the USM Horn Studio under Heidi Lucas.
During her undergraduate studies, Swindoll performed at the 2010 Southeast Horn Workshop, the 2010 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the 2012 International Horn Symposium in Denton, Texas, and the 2012 Saarburg International Music Festival in Saarburg, Germany. She obtained a master’s degree in Music Education in 2014 from Southern Miss, where she served as the graduate assistant to the horn studio with Lucas.
Prior to being in the Petal School District, Swindoll held positions with both the Biloxi Public and Long Beach school districts. She is a member of the National Band Association, Mississippi Bandmasters Association, and the Southeast Mississippi Bandmasters Association, as well as a National Board Certified Teacher in Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood Music.
“We feel really good about Mrs. Swindoll being in the (band director) position,” Petal High School principal Rob Knight said. “We’re confident that she can carry our program to new heights.
“She’s done a great job wherever she’s been – very professional, has a great rapport with students, is very organized. We just know that she just has the best interest of our band program in her heart, so we’re just excited about the things she’s going to do moving forward.”
Upon coming to the Petal School District, Swindoll was put in charge of overseeing the Petal Middle School bands while assisting with the high school and upper school bands.
After Garnand resigned in the fall – shortly before the band’s first competition – Swindoll quickly stepped in as interim band director in September.
After being named interim director, Swindoll and the band spent every Saturday through the month of October at various competitions before finishing fourth in the state.
“In a year where not only we were facing our own challenges, but in a year where the 6A classification grew exponentially, we were able to maintain and really grow the group in a new direction in our competitions,” Swindoll said. “We’ve had competitions in October with marching band, and we were actually just starting competitions with indoor percussion, but that has been canceled in light of the coronavirus.
“So going forward, we’re scheduled to have concert band evaluations in a few weeks, and we should have the results of that if it still continues.”
For the future of the program, Swindoll plans to continue to build on the foundation that is in place.
“We’ve had years and years of success, but going forward we would like to better, of course,” Swindoll said.
“I’ve already got outside clinicians coming in to work with our kids towards the end of the year, and we’re just looking at expounding on what we already have and moving forward.”
