Photo Credit: Rollins Studio
Grant Knox (he/him) is an Arizona-based music educator, conductor, and musicologist. As an advocate for healthy practices of inclusion, representation, and diversity in the music classroom/ensemble, Grant enjoys the interdisciplinary studies of musicology, critical theory, and popular music within the larger scope of the wind band idiom. With over five years of experience teaching K-12 music in Kentucky and Arizona, Grant most recently served as the Director of Instrumental Music at Cienega High School in Vail, AZ, instructing all aspects of the string orchestra, concert, jazz, and athletic bands. Grant is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA ’25) in wind band conducting from Arizona State University, where he studies with Dr. Jason Caslor, Dr. Jamal Duncan, and James G. Hudson. In addition to his studies, he serves as an adjunct faculty member at Phoenix College and a Graduate Teaching Assistant working alongside the concert and athletic Bands at Arizona State University.
During his graduate studies, Grant has entertained a diverse array of scholarly topics. Participating in multiple academic conferences and substantial research projects, Grant has presented research on Chicago hip-hop in addition to exploring all facets of identity in the music of Ulysses Kay and William Grant Still. Along with his musicology studies, Grant has been an avid performer and educator in the marching arts. Grant performed with the Blue Stars Drum & Bugle Corps in 2014 and served as a drum major for the 250-member Murray State University Racer Band that same year. He also served on the instructional staff of the Racer Band in 2016 specializing in visual performance in addition to working with multiple high school bands across the state of Kentucky. In Arizona, Grant has been an instructor at Mountain View HS (Tucson), Boulder Creek HS (Anthem), and Deer Valley HS (Glendale). As a graduate assistant, Grant has served in administrative and instructional leadership roles with the University of Arizona’s “Pride of Arizona” Marching Band and Arizona State University’s “Sun Devil Marching Band.”
In addition to his marching arts experience, Grant has performed on euphonium with the Murray State University Wind Ensemble, Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble, and Trumpet Ensemble playing bass trumpet. During these years, he enjoyed performances at the International Tuba-Euphonium Conference in Knoxville, TN (2016), Kentucky Music Educators Association Conference in Louisville, KY (2017), and the National Trumpet Competition in Denver, CO (2017). While at the University of Arizona, Grant was a member of the Collegium Musicum—the university’s renowned early music vocal ensemble, in addition to performing on the sackbut with Arizona Baroque.
Originally from Lexington, KY, Grant holds degrees in music education and musicology from Murray State University (BM ’18) and the University of Arizona (MM ’20). During his education, Grant has studied euphonium with Ray Conklin and Geoff Durbin, conducting with Chad Nicholson, Chad Shoopman, and Robert Ambrose, and additional musical studies (arranging/musicology) with John Fannin and Matthew Mugmon. Grant is an alumni brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, and an honorary member of Tau Beta Sigma National Honorary Band Sorority. He also holds active memberships in the International Society for Research and Promotion of Wind Music (IGEB), College Band Director’s National Association (CBDNA), American Musicological Society (AMS), and the Society for American Music (SAM).
Education
D.M.A., Wind Band Conducting, Arizona State University (2025)
Cognate: Music Entrepreneurship
Document: “Rediscovering William Grant Still: A Survey of Original Wind Band Music and Posthumous Transcriptions”
M.M., Musicology, University of Arizona (2020)
B.M., Music Education, Murray State University (2018)
Curriculum Vitae
Research and Areas of Specialization
Music of 20th-century African-American composers
Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Wind Band Performance
Popular Music and Hip-Hop Studies
Identity and Cultural Belonging in Musical Composition
Sound Studies and Musical Innovations in College Football/Basketball