Mr. Chris White

Chris White is a native of Bristol, Tennessee. He attended Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, VA, where he received the Bachelor of Arts in Music degree, with honors, in 1997. He began his graduate studies as a Graduate Teaching Assistant to University Bands at Radford University, where he studied trumpet and conducting with Mark Camphouse. After moving to Charlotte, NC to begin his teaching career, he completed his graduate studies at Winthrop University as a student of Dr. Bill Malambri, where he earned a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting degree. He became a National Board Certified teacher in 2006, and recertified in 2016.

Mr. White has been the Director of Bands at Hickory Ridge High School in Harrisburg, NC since the school opened in the fall of 2007. Mr. White’s duties at Hickory Ridge include overseeing a comprehensive band program which consists of Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Marching Band, Musical Pit Orchestra, Winterguard, Winter Percussion, and several small ensembles. Prior to Mr. White’s appointment at Hickory Ridge, he taught for six years in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system.  

Under his direction, ensembles at Hickory Ridge consistently receive superior ratings at marching, concert, jazz, and solo festivals.  The Hickory Ridge Blue Regiment has twice performed in the prestigious London New Year’s Day Parade, in 2009 and 2016, and was an invited guest to the 2020 Rome New Year's Day Parade and Frascati, Italy Street Festival.  

In 2018, the Hickory Ridge Wind Ensemble participated in a 10-day performance tour of China at the invitation of the US-China Cultural and Educational Foundation, where they presented a series of public concerts in Shanghai, Shaoxin, Hangzhou, Jiaxin, and Beijing. The ensemble was a featured performance group for the North Carolina Music Educators Association (NCMEA) annual conference in November 2022. In addition, over the past thirteen years at Hickory Ridge, his concert ensembles have performed in Washington, D.C., New York, Orlando, and New Orleans. The Hickory Ridge Band will travel to Europe in April of 2023 to give a series of concert performances in Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague.

Mr. White's students consistently participate in county, district, state, collegiate, and national honor band clinics. They have earned acceptance into the US Army All-American Marching Band, the NAfME All-National Concert Band and Symphony Orchestra, the Music for All Honor Band of America, the Bands of America Marching Band of America, and the US Marine Band Concerto Competition finals. Hickory Ridge received the NAMM Merit Award in 2020 and 2021, recognizing excellence in music education. 

Mr. White was selected as Hickory Ridge High School Teacher of the Year in 2015, and was a top five finalist for Cabarrus County Schools Teacher of the Year.  He has previously received recognition as Charlotte-Mecklenburg New Band Director of the Year in 1999,  the 2001 E.E. Waddell High School Teacher of the Year, and received the Horace Mann Crystal Apple Award for outstanding teaching.  He has served as clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor for many marching band and concert events. He served as Chair of the South Central District Bandmasters Association and board member of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association from 2018-2020, and received the South Central District Bandmasters Association Award of Excellence in 2021. He currently serves as the President-Elect of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association (NCBA).

His professional memberships include the American School Band Directors Association (ASBDA), National Band Association (NBA) North Carolina Music Educators Association (NCMEA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the North Carolina Bandmasters Association (NCBA).  He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Omicron Delta Kappa fraternities.