DIRECTOR OF BANDS: AMANDA R. GRIFFIS
Mrs. Griffis is a native of North Carolina where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. UNC Greensboro's School of Music is recognized as one of the top music institutions in the United States. Since living in Tampa, she has earned a Master's Degree in Music Education from Florida State University's College of Music.
Mrs. Griffis began her teaching career at Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, Florida where the concert band earned their first Superior rating in over a decade. She later moved to Tampa and taught at Chamberlain High School where students were challenged and gained new musical experiences in Marching Band, Percussion Techniques, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and AP Music Theory. The Chamberlain ensembles then earned consistently higher marks at all music performance assessments including Marching, Concert and Solo & Ensemble. In 2019 she began teaching as the Director of Bands at Alonso High School directing all band activities including the Raven Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band and Jazz Band. The Alonso band ensembles consistently earns high marks at music performance assessments and the Marching Raven Band membership continues to increase annually and is now approaching 200 members.
In addition, she earned the honor of being a presenter at the Florida Music Educators Conference in Tampa and currently serves as the Florida Bandmasters Association District 7 Chair.
BRASS/VISUAL, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - STACEY JONES
Ms. Jones is the Director of Bands at Davidsen Middle School, Center for the Arts, where she teaches the Concert and Jazz ensembles.
Ms. Jones graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from The University of South Florida. In her time at USF, Ms. Jones was a member and leader in the Herd of Thunder Marching Band, and studied conducting and music education under the baton of Dr. Matthew McCutchen, Dr. John Carmichael, and Dr. William Wiedrick. She also studied trumpet with Dr. Jay Coble, and served as a principal member and performer of the USF Symphonic and Wind Ensembles, as well as the Jazz Band and “Rumble” Pep Band.
In addition to being a band director, Ms. Jones is also a freelance trumpet player and private teacher. She has performed with the Florida Wind Band, and maintains a modest studio of private trumpet students ages middle through high school.
Prior to her appointment at Davidsen, Ms. Jones served as the Band Director at Sligh Middle Magnet, and completed her student teaching with Cynthia Starling at Smith Middle School. Ms. Jones believes that music education is essential, and is a fierce advocate for The Arts in our schools.
DANCE TEAM COACH - JULIA MAC
Julia.mac-ben-vzi@hcps.net
JAZZ SPECIALIST - TOM ZILEGELHOFER
PERCUSSION TECHNICIAN - MATTHEW OLSAVSKY
Mr. Olsavsky is a percussionist and band director who moved down to the Tampa Bay Area with his wife where he will be the band director at Hillsborough Academy of Math and Science. He graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance under the direction of Dr. AndreaVenet. Mr. Olsavsky has a very diverse musical background. He has performed all types of music from marching band to classical. In 2017 Mr. Olsavsky was a semi-finalist for the Great Plans International Marimba Competition. He is very excited to be a part of the Alonso High School band program!