Kenny Baker

Kenny Baker is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher and the Orchestra and Guitar Teacher at McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada. He has presented at several state, regional, and national conferences on the topics of implementing electric instruments in the orchestra, assessment, and Eclectic Styles and literature in the orchestra curriculum. Kenny was a writer for the NAfME Teaching with Primary Sources program through the Library of Congress. His orchestras have twice performed at the ASTA National Orchestra Festival and he also led the first string orchestra to perform at the Reno Jazz Festival. He received his Bachelor of Music Education at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln where he studied viola with Clark Potter and taught in the UNL String Project under Dr. Karen Becker. He received his Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of Nevada, Reno and an additional Masters in Instructional Design.

Personal Statement

I attended the first standalone ASTA conference as a college student where I learned from an early age how beautiful, supportive, and caring this organization is. I saw educators who made a difference and from that moment forward I wanted to be a teacher who made a difference for my students and be a reliable friend to other teachers who need support. I have had many successes over the years and accompanying failures where I have been able to collaborate with friends in ASTA who continually help me become a better teacher for my students. I am passionate about listening to the needs of educators and helping to connect with answers. I find great joy in collaborating with ASTA members to identify problems within the profession, finding the correct person to help, and then working together to solve the problem.

Leadership Experience

I am the former ASTA Eclectic Styles Division Chair and a former member of the ASTA Advocacy Committee. Locally I serve as co-chair of my district’s Orchestra Curriculum Committee which wrote our school district’s first orchestra curriculum based upon the ASTA Curriculum Guide. I also recently finished serving my local teacher’s union chairing a committee which negotiated for and secured a record increase in extra duty pay for music teachers, coaches, and other activity advisors.

Response to Challenges in String Education

String education is facing a shortage of string educators in classrooms. I would like to find ways to encourage more young people to pursue rewarding careers in education. Additionally, ASTA is making progress filling this need by encouraging non-string player educators to teach strings while providing a support network. I would like to encourage and work to expand these efforts by empowering the membership through “train the trainer” resources further expanding the reach of ASTA.

Response to DEI

Life isn’t made complete by those who are like me – that’s boring. I find great fulfillment and joy learning from and working with people who bring the insight of different lived experiences than my own. Giving voices to people without a voice is one of the greatest acts we can share with each other. I want all educators to know ASTA is a place where they can come, be seen, and be heard through music.

Vision for ASTA

One of my favorite sayings is “we have two ears and one mouth – act accordingly”. I want to see ASTA become the organization which listens intently to members’ needs and provides the support necessary to ensure all ASTA members and their students receive the best care from our organization. I envision an organization which can easily connect members across all string education disciplines with each other to further our profession, no matter our educational setting.