Music education alumna Erin Althen ’03, G’04 is the Director of Bands and Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Westhill High School, near Syracuse, NY. She is founder and co-conductor of the Syracuse Youth Wind Symphony and co-founder the Central New York Music Teacher Mentoring Program. A flute and piccolo player, she has performed for the Central Winds Music Educators Wind Ensemble and Syracuse Summer Festival Orchestra.
Among her awards and citations, Althen has twice been a Grammy Music Educator Award semifinalist (2025 and 2026); was named the Syracuse Area Music Awards “SAMMYs” Music Educator of the Year and inducted into the Hall of Fame (2026); received a CMA Foundation National Music Teacher of Excellence award (2025); and was recognized as the New York State Band Directors Association Band Director of the Year (2024).
Describe your current role and its responsibilities.
I am in my 23rd year of teaching in the Westhill Central School District. As Director of Bands and Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Westhill High School, I conduct and teach the wind ensemble, pit orchestra, and pep band, teach woodwind and percussion lessons, coach chamber music, advise the Tri-M Music Honor Society, and lead the musical leadership and performance academies.
Outside of my day-to-day work at school, in addition to the Syracuse Youth Wind Symphony and CNY Music Teacher Mentoring Program, I am the co-author of The Sight Reading Book, a 21-volume series aligned with New York State Standards for adjudicated sight reading.
How did the School of Education prepare you for this role?
I am wildly grateful for my Syracuse degrees. Both my undergraduate and graduate degrees are from Syracuse, where I studied in both the School of Education and Setnor School of Music. I felt like my experience in the School of Education was the start of a long relationship, where my classmates and I were presented with current best practices but encouraged to keep our eyes and pedagogy open to constant improvement, learning, re-imagining, and innovating.
On day one at Westhill, I knew that I did not know it all, but I had the dispositions and characteristics practiced to help me continue on the path. Now on day 8,000-plus, I absolutely do not know it all, but I still continue to turn to those lessons I learned as a student at Syracuse that shaped my resilience, curiosity, tenacity, and leadership.
What current trends do you see in your specialty and how are you addressing them?
The trends that come to mind most immediately are 1) a focus on representation and diversity in the repertoire our students study and perform and 2) addressing the teacher recruitment and retention gap in education and music education, in particular.
“For prospective students who are considering music education, the major allows students to truly receive the best education in both worlds. You will develop your own praxis and pedagogy as a master educator and hone your craft as a master musician.”
Representation matters: it is imperative that our student-musicians have the opportunity to perform music that acts as a mirror for them and for their own experiences and also music that acts as a window to the lives and experiences of others. In our program, we perform both masterworks and contemporary pieces with a focus on intentionally programming music that is diverse, inclusive, and that amplifies underrepresented voices through our music-making.
Mentoring to bridge the gap: it is my understanding that there is a decline in the number of music education graduates nationwide that is coupled with an increase in experienced music teachers leaving the field. This has left our profession with a gap. I am passionate about mentoring young teachers, informally as someone present in the profession to assist new teachers and formally through official mentoring programs in CNY and state-wide.
Over the past 23 years, I have hosted 23 student-teachers for half-semester placements, 19 of those from the School of Education. It is an incredible privilege to serve our profession by mentoring teachers new to the field.
Which professors stood out for you most as a student at SOE?
John Coggiola, Elisa Dekaney, and Barbara Tagg were all professors who taught classes that bridged School of Education and School of Music coursework on music education. All three were—and still are!—inspiring, passionate, deeply knowledgeable, and master teachers and musicians in their own right.
More than 20 years after graduating from Syracuse, I still reach out to professors Coggiola, Dekaney, and Tagg to share victories, invite them in to connect with my students, ask for advice and guidance, and connect about current Syracuse University students and recent graduates.
Make a pitch for SOE—why should a prospective student choose the School of Education?
The School of Education is a welcoming community of faculty, staff, and students who deeply care about one another and about the profession of teaching. You will learn the science of teaching, while making life-long connections with peers, professors, and a network of educators in the Syracuse area.
For prospective students who are considering music education, the major allows students to truly receive the best education in both worlds. You will develop your own praxis and pedagogy as a master educator and hone your craft as a master musician.
As a student at Syracuse University, I had seemingly unending opportunities, and as a student in smaller colleges within a large university, I always felt seen, heard, and personally valued, and that there was no limit to what I could do, research, investigate, and experience.