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Mr. Hassell is in his 23th year of teaching overall and his 10th year at Carroll High School, in Fort Wayne, IN. He is a native of Fort Wayne where he attended North Side High School and earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from Indiana-Purdue University at Fort Wayne (now known as Purdue University @ Fort Wayne) in the spring of 1999.
Under his direction, Mr. Hassell’s marching bands have been Indiana state marching band finalists 15 times. The Carroll Charger Pride has been an ISSMA state finalist 4 of the last 5 years and in Bands of America Events, the Charger Pride has been a consistent regional finalist, super regional finalist and has been a regional class champion. Prior to teaching at Carroll, Mr. Hassell’s ISSMA state finalist marching bands received 2 4th-place finishes, three 3rd-place finishes, 3 state champion runner-up finishes, and three state championships, as well as being Bands of America regional finalists, class champions and Grand National semi-finalist.
All of the performance ensembles under his direction have received gold division ratings at ISSMA events for the last 19 consecutive years in the Indiana concert and jazz festivals. Since coming to Carroll, the concert bands have received consistent gold ratings, as well as receiving “With Distinction” in the ISSMA concert band festival. the Carroll Jazz Ensemble #1 has been a consistent “Top Honor Band” at multiple jazz festivals, including qualifying for the ISSMA state jazz finals each year since its inaugural year, where it was the first ever “Top Honor Ensemble” at the ISSMA Jazz state finals. In 2017 the Jazz Ensemble #1 was a featured performing ensemble at the Indiana Music Educator’s state conference.
In 1995 and 1996, Mr. Hassell was a member of the Madison Scouts drum and bugle corps, from Madison, WI which finished 4th and 6th respectively at the DCI world championships. He has also been a member of the Colts drum and bugle corps brass staff from Dubuque, IA (2000-2002, 2004) where they were DCI semi-finalists in 2000, ’02 and ’04 world finalists in 2001, Additionally, he was the brass arranger for the Colt Cadets in 2003 and 2004. In 2009, Mr. Hassell lead the Colts brass section in preparation for their participation in President Obama’s inaugural parade. He has been a guest clinician at the Indiana Music Educator’s Convention (and will be again in 2019) , Butler University, and IPFW. Mr. Hassell has been a guest conductor at Marian University in Indianapolis as well as for the Indiana Bandmaster’s all-region honor band. In 2011, he was welcomed into the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia national music Fraternity, and in 2017 was welcomed into the Phi Beta Mu Gamma Chapter International Band Directors Fraternity.
Mr. Hassell has been married to his wonderful wife Kelly since 2003 and together they have 2 sons: Evan (11) and Jack (7) . They also have two “other children”; Maynard, a hairless Chinese crested and Maude, an Australian Shepherd/Great Pyrenees Mix. In his free time, he enjoys reading, studying the Bible, and spending time with his family.
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