Felicia MacNaught 2002 Award of Excellence Recipient

Felicia Warren MacNaught began the study of music through piano and vocal training at age five. She began playing the Flute at Stedman Jr. High School under the direction of Milton Smith and Cape Fear High School under the direction of Jim Crayton. She continued her study of music at East Carolina University and received a bachelor’s degree in music education. She studied Flute with Beatrice Chauncey and Ellen Kaner and performed with the Symphonic Band under the direction of Tom Goolsby and the Wind Ensemble directed by Herbert Carter. She received her Master of Arts Degree in Flute Performance from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England where she studied with Canadian flutist Lisa Nelsen and professional flutist, Trevor Wye.

She began her teaching career as Director of Bands and Chorus at Dixon Jr./Sr. H.S. in Jacksonville, NC. She continued her teaching career by returning to Stedman where she became the Director of Bands. While at Stedman, her Band Program consistently received Excellent and Superior ratings at the Southeastern District Music Performance Assessment. They also received a Superior rating at the Fiesta-Val Band Contest in Williamsburg,
VA and were Grand Champions at The Festival of Bands in Orlando, Florida. Governor Jim Martin recognized The Stedman Junior High School Band for Outstanding Achievement.

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In 1996, she became the Director of Bands at the newly opened Mac Williams Middle School. Her bands have received straight Superior Ratings at the North Carolina Performance Adjudication for the past 29 years. Her students have consistently placed in the Cumberland All-County Band, the Southeast All-District Band, and the North Carolina Honors Band. Governor Mike Easley recognized The Mac Williams Band program for Outstanding Achievement.

She performed with the Cape Fear Regional Band directed by Ray B. Haney, The National Community Band directed by John P. Paynter and was the principal flutist with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Robert Gutter. Mrs. MacNaught is an active clinician and adjudicator for both Marching Band and Concert Band Festivals in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Utah. She has been invited to be a guest clinician and conductor for numerous All-County and All-District Bands throughout the Southeastern United States. She is a Director of The North Carolina Military Honor Band and is a Director of The North Carolina Ambassadors of Music. Her band has performed at the North Carolina Music Educators Convention and the 59th Annual National ASBDA Convention. Mrs. MacNaught and The Mac Williams Middle School Band were featured in the September 2012 Issue of SBO Magazine.

 

She is a member of the Cumberland County Band Directors Association, The Southeastern District Band Directors Association, The North Carolina Music Educators Association, The National Bandmasters Association and The American School Band Directors Association. She was the Veterans of Foreign Wars and The Mac Williams Middle School Teacher of The Year. She was the recipient of the North Carolina Band Directors Award of Excellence and The Scroll of Excellence by Women Band Directors International.