Aaron Vogel – Director of Bands

Aaron Vogel has served as the Director of Bands at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona since 2017 and currently serves as the High School Band Lead for the Deer Valley Unified School District. He is a Recording Academy® GRAMMY Music Educator Award Quarterfinalist, a recipient of the Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association and a recipient of the O.M. Hartsell Excellence in Teaching Award from the Arizona Music Educators Association.

Mr. Vogel’s responsibilities at Mountain Ridge include directing the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Orchestra and Marching Band. Under Mr. Vogel’s leadership, Mountain Ridge ensembles have been invited to perform at the 2021 Midwest Clinic, the 2023 and 2019 Music for All National Festival, and the 2020 Arizona Music Educators Conference. The Mountain Ridge Marching Band has won the Arizona State Marching Band Championship in 2022 and 2019, and were named the Bands of America Class 4A Arizona Regional Champions in 2022.

Prior to his appointment at Mountain Ridge, Mr. Vogel was the Director of Bands at Westwood High School in Mesa, Arizona, and taught in public schools in Colorado and North Carolina. Featured performances include the 2014 Taoyuan, Taiwan International Band Festival, the 2012 Music for All National Festival, the 2012 and 2011 Colorado Music Educators Conference, the 2010 Western International Band Clinic, and Marching Band State Championship performances in 2013, 2012 and 2009, with 2nd place finishes in 2016, 2010, and 2008.

Outside of his work in the public schools, Mr. Vogel serves as a conductor for the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestras and has served as an instructional staff member for Drum Corps International’s The Cadets, The Cavaliers and the Blue Knights. As a performer, he was an original cast member in the Tony and Emmy award winning show “Blast!” in London’s West End and a marching member of the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps. He received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Ithaca College, and a Masters in Music Education and Wind Conducting from the University of Colorado Boulder. He lives in Phoenix with his wife Becky, daughter Abigail and son Aiden.