Cathryn Leibinger

Cathi Leibinger is in her 30th year of teaching Middle School band in Miami, Florida. Originally from Illinois, she moved to Miami in 1989 as a first year teacher and started her career with the Miami-Dade Public Schools. In 2000, she moved to Ransom Everglades Middle School, an independent school in Coconut Grove. During her career she has served in many capacities of the Florida Bandmasters Association: multiple terms as District Secretary and District Chair, Junior High/Middle School Representative to the Executive Board in 2002 and is currently serving as President of the organization. Ms. Leibinger earned the B.M.E. from Millikin University in Decatur, IL and the M.S. in Music Education from the American Band College/Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Nonprofit Management from the University of Central Florida. She served as a member of the American Band College graduate staff and the Western International Band Clinic Staff in Seattle, Washington from 2000 to 2018. In both roles, she developed close working relationships and personal friendships with many composers, conductors and clinicians in the band field, often bringing them in to work with students in Miami and throughout Florida. Ms. Leibinger also serves as a member of the Advisory Board for the Band Directors Group on Facebook, a professional learning community of over 27,000 from all over the world. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Music Mentor Network, a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide student musicians equal access to highly trained music mentors in order to reach their full musical potential. Ms. Leibinger’s students have consistently earned superior ratings at Solo, Small Ensemble, Concert Band and Jazz Band Music Performance Assessments. Under her guidance, her students have worked with or performed with the Dallas Brass, the Boston Brass, soloists Sam Pilafian (tuba), Brian Neal (trumpet), conductor Colonel Arnald D. Gabriel (US Air Force, retired Conductor Emeritus) and have premiered commissioned works by Robert Longfield and Brian Balmages. She serves as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the state and is a member of FBA, FMEA and NAfME. She is a member of the Greater Miami Symphonic Band on horn and plays bass with the Miami-based rock band, “Never Too Late.”