Joseph Pappas has written over three hundred compositions for various types of ensembles, from beginning bands to college wind ensembles. He is most known for his compositions for young bands and musicians. His works have been performed in the United States, Canada, China, and Europe.

Mr. Pappas actively serves as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the Midwest. After twenty-seven years of successful teaching in public schools, Mr. Pappas currently is director of the Wind Ensemble at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Missouri. He devotes most of his time to composing and working as an educational consultant and publishing editor for his own company, JPM Music Publications, which he started in 1992. He is also the midwest regional coordinator for Music In the Parks, Festivals of Music, and a coordinator/consultant for Six Flags Music Festivals.

His professional memberships include Music Educators National Conference, Missouri Music Educators Association, East Central Music Educators Association, American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, Phi Mu Alpha professional music fraternity, Phi Beta Mu honorary music fraternity, an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi honorary band fraternity, Missouri Bandmasters Association, Central States Adjudicators, and Missouri State High School Activity Association Adjudicators. He has served on the staff of summer music camps at Southeast Missouri University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Truman University in Kirksville, Missouri, and as an assistant director for the Missouri Ambassadors of Music European tours. Additional memberships include the National Music Publishers Association and the Retail Print Music Dealers Association. He is also director of the first music camp in the the history of Jefferson College.

Among his many honors, Mr. Pappas has been a four-time Teacher of the Year recipient, a 1994 recipient of the Emerson Electric Excellence in Teaching Award, 1993–94 Rockwood School District High School Teacher of the Year, the Missouri State High School Activity Association Distinguished Service Award, a national winner of the Sadie Rafferty Music Composition Contest sponsored by Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Illinois, and three times has been named to the Who’s Who Among American Teachers and three times to Who’s Who In America. Bands under his direction have won numerous awards including three-time Overall Champions at Music In the Parks festivals and a two-time recipient of the Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville Bi-State Band of the Year Award.

His teaching expertise has taken him worldwide. In January 1993, he was selected as part of a delegation of teachers for an educational exchange with teachers in Peraslavl, Russia, focusing on teaching strategies, techniques, and concepts. In March 2002, Mr. Pappas traveled to Linz, Austria, where he was invited as a guest lecturer at the Conservatory of Music in Linz and as a clinician for the Austrian Blasorchester Director Seminar.

In addition to composition, Mr. Pappas has written several articles for professional journals on various topics of music education. He is presently working on a book for young music directors.

Currently he is president-elect of the East Central district of the Missouri Music Educator’s Association where he served as college vice-president for two terms. In January 2006, he assumed the office as president and serves on the Missouri Educators Conference board

Website: www.JPMMusic.com