Guest Conductor
Monica Leimer
Pride Music and Arts Festival - March 9th, 2024
Monica (Crew) Leimer is completing her 23rd year as a music educator and currently serves as the Director of Bands at DeLand High School. Ms. Leimer holds both a bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Music Education (Magna Cum Laude, 2001) and a master’s degree in Music Education (2012) from the Florida State University. While at FSU, Ms. Leimer was a member of the Marching Chiefs, Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, Concert Band, and the Chiefly Brass Pep Band. She studied conducting with Patrick Dunnigan and Richard Clary and flute with Charles DeLaney. Ms. Leimer is highly involved with the Florida Bandmasters Association and the Florida Music Educators Association, having served on several committees as well as the FBA State Executive Board. She keeps an active schedule as an adjudicator and clinician throughout Florida and Georgia. Bands under Ms. Leimer’s direction consistently receive Superior ratings at FBA District and State Music Performance Assessments and have received prestigious performance opportunities such as the National Band & Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall (2019 & 2022), the London New Year’s Day Parade (2020), Essentially Ellington Regional Jazz Festival (2023 & 2024), the National Memorial Day Parade (2023), and the Jazz Educators Network (JEN) Jazz Festival (2024). In 2019, Ms. Leimer founded the Florida Female Band Directors Network with the mission of creating a safe place for women band directors in Florida to find camaraderie, mentorship, support, and empowerment.
Prior to DeLand, Ms. Leimer taught at Lake Nona High School in Orlando for 6 years and in the Tallahassee area for 12 years before that. She holds memberships in the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA), Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the National Band Association (NBA), the Jazz Education Network (JEN) and the Women Band Directors International (WBDI). She has previously served on the Board of Directors for the FSU Marching Chiefs Alumni Association as well as the Volunteer Service Team for Alpha Gamma Delta International Women’s Fraternity. She currently resides in DeLand with her son James (a horn player in the FAMU Marching 100 & Wind Symphony), daughter Madison (a flute, piccolo, & tenor sax player in the DeLand HS Band), and their cats – Elsa, Molly, Percy, Dmitri, & Luxie.
