HIGHLAND HIGH SCHOOL
4301 E Guadalupe Road, Gilbert, AZ 85234
h[email protected] | (480) 332 -1561
h[email protected] | (480) 332 -1561
Craig Ghormley is ecstatic to be in his first year as Director of Orchestras at Highland High School in Gilbert Arizona. Mr. Ghormley most recently was the Director of Orchestras at Lawrence Central High School and the conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Indianapolis Youth Orchestras.
Mr. Ghormley has also been active as an adjudicator & clinician working with both bands and orchestras around the Midwest. For most of his career, Craig was director of orchestras at North Central High School, Indianapolis, IN. While at North Central the orchestras grew to over 230 students and achieved great success.
In 2008, the North Central High School Bass Choir performed at the Indiana Music Educators Association Convention. The North Central Symphony Orchestra was an ISSMA State Orchestra Finalist every year, earning the Indiana State Orchestra Championship in 2009 and 2014. Groups under Mr. Ghormley’s direction have toured extensively, performing in many major European cities such as Prague, Salzburg, Munich, and Vienna.
In 2022, as part of the Indianapolis Youth Orchestra, Mr. Ghormley was fortunate to conduct in New York City’s prestigious Carnegie Hall. Mr. Ghormley was named High School Orchestra Director of the Year in the state of Indiana by the American String Teachers Association in 2017. That same year he was also named an Honored Educator of an Indiana Academic All-Star.
At the beginning of his career, Mr. Ghormley was the Band Director for two years at Fort Branch Community School and Gibson Southern High School in Fort Branch, Indiana. He is a proud 2005 graduate of Ball State University. At Ball State, Mr. Ghormley was a Presidential Scholar, Young Artist Award Recipient, and Presser Scholar. Craig was awarded a Masters of Music Degree in Instrumental Conducting from Butler University in 2011.
We are excited to have him join our program and look forward to working with him. Highland High School opened in 1993, and the Highland Orchestras currently consist of five performing ensembles, with an enrollment of over 350 students.
Mrs. Amy Bennett is in her 25th year of teaching with Gilbert Public Schools. She has been the Director of Orchestras at Highland Junior High since the school's opening in 1998 and Orchestra Director at Highland High School. Under her direction, the junior high program has grown to over 250 students.
Mrs. Bennett earned her Bachelor of Music Education and Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Northern Arizona University in May of 1998. In 2004, she earned her Master of Music Education degree from Arizona State University.
For the past 18 years, Mrs. Bennett has been the Division III conductor of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in Mesa, Arizona. She has been a faculty member of both the Scottsdale Community College and Northern Arizona University Summer Music Camps and has served as a guest conductor for various honor orchestras throughout Arizona.
Mrs. Bennett has been active in the Arizona Band and Orchestra Director's Association, serving (6) six years as the chairman of the ABODA Fall Orchestra Festival, as well as Regional Orchestra co-Chairman. She is a member of the Music Educators National Conference, the American String Teachers Association, and the Suzuki Association of America.
In 2009, Mrs. Bennett received the O.M. Hartsell Excellence in Music Teaching Award from the Arizona Music Educators Association. In 2015, she received the Arizona ASTA Outstanding Public School Teacher of the Year Award.