Education
Biography
Dr. Dylan Parrilla-Koester is Director of Bands and Professor of Practice at Tulane University, where he leads Tulane’s comprehensive bands program, directs the Tulane University Marching Band, and conducts the Concert Band. He teaches conducting during summers at Columbia University and is a clinician, conductor, and adjudicator throughout the United States and Canada.
His research examines the intersections of music education policy, organizational management, and the politics of educational practice, with particular attention to higher education governance and college athletic bands. His scholarship appears in journals including Visions of Research in Music Education, Jazz Education in Research and Practice, and College Music Symposium. He has presented at conferences of the College Band Directors National Association, College Music Society, International Society for Music Education, and state music education associations.
Before returning to Tulane, Dr. Parrilla-Koester served as Director of Instrumental Music at Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale, California, where he directed the five-time state champion marching band and superior-rated concert and jazz ensembles. He has also taught at St. Thomas University and the University of Colorado Boulder. His drill designs and arrangements have been performed by universities nationwide, including the University of Colorado, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Central Arkansas. Ensembles under his direction have appeared on American Idol and at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl and College Football Playoff.