COURSES

Concert Band

Symphonic Band

Jazz Ensembles

Biography

Collin Watgen currently works in the Lawrence Public School District as a sixth-grade band director at Billy Mills Middle School, assistant band director at Free State High School for the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and is director of the Firebird Jazz program. He started his career teaching at the charter school Frontier School of Excellence in Kansas City, MO, where he created their music curriculum, which was comprised of music appreciation, general music, class piano lessons, music history, and started the school’s first band program. 

Mr. Watgen is a graduate of Free State High School and the University of Kansas, where he was involved in bands, orchestra, choir, and theater. As a percussionist, he has performed with the Lawrence City Band, Lawrence Community Orchestra, and Kansas City Chiefs Rumble Drumline. Mr. Watgen is a member of the Kansas Music Educators Association, was appointed Province Governor for Kansas and Colorado for the 2022-25 triennium for Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and serves as a board member for the Kansas John Philip Sousa Junior Honor Band.