Michael KobitoConductor, Emory Wind Ensemble
Michael Kobito is a music educator, conductor, and trumpeter from Cartersville, Georgia. He serves as the Conductor of the Emory Wind Ensemble and Associate Conductor of Tara Winds.
Prior to his appointment at Emory University, Kobito served as Director of Bands at Woodland High School in Cartersville, GA. During his tenure as director, the band performed at multiple national events, including the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington D.C., the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference, the Southeastern United States Honor Band Festival, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC, UGA’s Janfest Honor Band Festival, and most recently in the 2023 London New Year's Day Parade. He also taught AP Music Theory, where his students earned a 100% pass rate on the AP exam.
As a conductor and trumpeter, Kobito is an active musician, performing regularly around metro-Atlanta, in Tara Winds, and in the Georgia Brass Band. As a conductor of Tara Winds, the band was invited to perform in France at the 2023 Festival des Anches d’Azur in La Croix-Valmer, and has been invited to perform at 2024 GMEA In-Service Conference. Additionally, with these groups, he has performed at multiple honor invitational events including the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois and the North American Brass Band Competition in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He has served as a guest conductor for the Georgia Brass Band, and has been the clinician for multiple honor bands around Georgia and the United States. He has been the recipient of the National Band Association Citation of Excellence for his work with the Woodland Band and Tara Winds on five occasions.
Kobito is also a dedicated advocate for education, having served as an ambassador for educators in the state as the 2023 Georgia Teacher of the Year. He is an active keynote speaker, clinician, and panelist on topics around best education practices and pedagogy, teacher recruitment and retention, and the future of education.
Kobito and his beautiful wife, Emily, an elementary school teacher in Cherokee County, have two cats and enjoy traveling.
