Interview with Karel Butz, Beckendorff Junior High School, Katy, TX

Karel Butz is the Head Orchestra Director
at Beckendorff Junior High School in Katy, Texas.  He
previously taught orchestra in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent
School District (Houston, Texas) and Carmel Clay Schools (Carmel,
Indiana) in addition to serving as adjunct violin faculty at
Purdue University.  His orchestras have performed at the
Midwest Clinic and are consistent UIL Sweepstakes Winners, Texas
Honor Orchestra State Finalists, and National Honor Orchestra
Winners in the Foundation for Music Education Mark of Excellence
Competition.  Under his direction, the Beckendorff Honor
Orchestra was named the 2019 Texas State Honor Orchestra and 2019
Houston Cup Winner.  He is a frequent guest conductor,
lecturer, and clinician around the country.


His music is published by Musica Propria, Inc. and has
been performed worldwide at several venues such as the Midwest
Clinic, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Stellenbosch
International Chamber Music Festival, Indiana University String
Academy, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME)
Conference, and several all-state and region honor orchestras.
His book Achieving Musical Success in the String
Classroom (2019) is published by Oxford University Press.


Mr. Butz has performed in several orchestras, including the
National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute,
and Spoleto Festival USA. He served as an Associate Instructor
for string techniques and music theory at the Indiana University
Jacobs School of Music. In addition, he taught violin for the
Indiana University String Academy, Music for All Summer
Symposium  Orchestra Division, and the Oklahoma Summer Arts
Institute.  He is a freelance violinist in Houston.


Mr. Butz is a member of the Texas Music Adjudicators Association
(TMAA), Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA), and American
String Teachers Association (ASTA).


Mr. Butz received both his Bachelor of Music Education and Master
of Music in Violin Performance with high distinction from the
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where his principal
violin instructors were Nelli Shkolnikova and Mimi Zweig.
 He completed doctoral coursework in music education at
Indiana University.


Links:


Karel's Website


Textbook: Achieving Musical Success in the String Classroom 


Amazon Link