Associate Director of Bands

Savannah Starks

at Beechwood Since 2022

savannah.starks@beechwood.kyschools.us

Savannah Starks is a recent graduate of the University of Kentucky with degrees in Music Education and Clarinet Performance. During her time in undergrad she was heavily involved with teaching and performing. Ms. Starks spent her summers as a music and visual tech for the Beechwood High School Marching Band from 2019 to 2021 and Adair County High School Marching Band from 2018 to 2020. Since 2018, she has been giving in person and virtual clarinet lessons to young musicians across the state in which many of her students have made it into their All-District and All-State Bands.

As a musician, Ms. Starks has performed with the University of Kentucky Wind Symphony, University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, Prague Summer Nights Music Festival, and other chamber groups playing clarinet, and she has also performed with the University of Kentucky Concert Band and Philharmonia playing oboe. Involvement in these groups has allowed her to perform in venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Rudolfinum and Estates Theatre in Prague, Czechia. Ms. Starks also has experience as a conductor performing with the University of Kentucky Concert Band in Spring 2021 and the Henry Clay High School Bands during her student teaching in Spring 2022.

Ms. Starks grew up in Columbia, Kentucky where she was a part of the Adair County High School Marching Band from 2013 to 2017. With the band, she became a two-time KMEA State Champion and four-time BOA Class A National Champion. Her senior year she was selected as Drum Major, and her junior and senior year she was a featured soloist. During this time, she was also accepted into the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts for Instrumental Music and participated in the KMEA All-State Bands four years in a row.