James Rees
James Rees serves as the Director of Bands at Grapevine High School. He is entering his 14th year of teaching and third year at Grapevine. Prior to his current position, he was the Associate Director at Lake Highlands High School in Richardson ISD and Associate Director at Evans Middle School in McKinney ISD.
Concert bands under Mr. Rees' direction have earned superior ratings consistently at all UIL events. His concert bands have been selected as the outstanding group at Peak Music Festival, South Coast Music Festival, The Lone Star Showcase of Music, and the North Texas Festival of Distinction. They have also been recognized as a commended winner of the Citation of Excellence. Musicals conducted by Mr. Rees have been nominated for best orchestra in the Dallas Summer Musical Awards and Casa Mañana's Buckley Awards. Marching Bands under his direction have earned exclusively superior ratings at all UIL events. They have also won caption awards in music, visual performance, percussion and color guard.
Mr. Rees holds Bachelors degrees in Music Education and Music Performance from Texas Tech University. During his time at Texas Tech, Mr. Rees was selected as the Principal Tuba of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra. At the time of his appointment he was the youngest member of the Orchestra. Mr. Rees also holds a Masters in Music Education from Southern Methodist University.
Mr. Rees is an active adjudicator and guest clinician and is honored to have professional affiliations with Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, and Texas Music Adjudicators Association. Mr. Rees serves the Texas Music Educators Association as the Band Chair of Region 31. Mr. Rees and his wife Sarah live in Grapevine and enjoy friends, family, food and travel.
Concert bands under Mr. Rees' direction have earned superior ratings consistently at all UIL events. His concert bands have been selected as the outstanding group at Peak Music Festival, South Coast Music Festival, The Lone Star Showcase of Music, and the North Texas Festival of Distinction. They have also been recognized as a commended winner of the Citation of Excellence. Musicals conducted by Mr. Rees have been nominated for best orchestra in the Dallas Summer Musical Awards and Casa Mañana's Buckley Awards. Marching Bands under his direction have earned exclusively superior ratings at all UIL events. They have also won caption awards in music, visual performance, percussion and color guard.
Mr. Rees holds Bachelors degrees in Music Education and Music Performance from Texas Tech University. During his time at Texas Tech, Mr. Rees was selected as the Principal Tuba of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra. At the time of his appointment he was the youngest member of the Orchestra. Mr. Rees also holds a Masters in Music Education from Southern Methodist University.
Mr. Rees is an active adjudicator and guest clinician and is honored to have professional affiliations with Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, and Texas Music Adjudicators Association. Mr. Rees serves the Texas Music Educators Association as the Band Chair of Region 31. Mr. Rees and his wife Sarah live in Grapevine and enjoy friends, family, food and travel.