Pequot Lakes Band Director
Michael Sommerness
Sommerness has been teaching both middle level and high school band at Pequot Lakes for eight years after graduating from St. Cloud State University with a degree in instrumental music education.
His band experience has him working with many different ensemble and community groups including Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Greater Lakes Area Performing Arts music, Band in the Park and others. His marching bands have participated in many community parades, and his concert band recently returned from a tour of New Orleans, Memphis and Chicago.
Sommerness is involved as a member rights advocate for EMPL and has been recognized for his contribution to education by receiving superior ratings at band contests and coaching all-state band students.
He loves to spend time with his family: Jenni, his wife, and children, Alison and River, yearly canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, biking and fishing.
He is currently working on his masters degree in education from Southwest State University.
His philosophy of education is: "The process of finding one's self and being a part of something greater, a community and the world, becomes apparent and important to individuals as they become educated. When students are encouraged to ask themselves 'Who am I?' they begin to understand the very human need to express themselves, to create and to find an effective process to do so. I strongly believe that music is an essential element of the human experience and for students it acts as a medium for applied knowledge and an individual, personal expression."
Echo Blurb
Sommerness has been teaching both middle level and high school band at Pequot Lakes for eight years after graduating from St. Cloud State University with a degree in instrumental music education.
His band experience has him working with many different ensemble and community groups including Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Greater Lakes Area Performing Arts music, Band in the Park and others. His marching bands have participated in many community parades, and his concert band recently returned from a tour of New Orleans, Memphis and Chicago.
Sommerness is involved as a member rights advocate for EMPL and has been recognized for his contribution to education by receiving superior ratings at band contests and coaching all-state band students.
He loves to spend time with his family: Jenni, his wife, and children, Alison and River, yearly canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, biking and fishing.
He is currently working on his masters degree in education from Southwest State University.
His philosophy of education is: "The process of finding one's self and being a part of something greater, a community and the world, becomes apparent and important to individuals as they become educated. When students are encouraged to ask themselves 'Who am I?' they begin to understand the very human need to express themselves, to create and to find an effective process to do so. I strongly believe that music is an essential element of the human experience and for students it acts as a medium for applied knowledge and an individual, personal expression."
Echo Blurb
Email: [email protected]