School of Music director selected as conductor for student music festival in India

Wendy Matthews, a recognized music educator, conductor and researcher, will conduct the concert band for an American-style music festival for middle school students in Mumbai.

By Sophia Skelton & Janel Shoun-Smith  |  02/23/2026

School of Music Director, Wendy K. Matthews is set to travel to Mumbai, India, in May to conduct the concert band in that nation’s only music festival for middle school students operated in American-style international schools.

The music festival is an annual event for the three member schools in the American Schools in India Activities Conference (ASIAC). The three schools were established in India to support the children of families who are a part of the United States’ diplomatic mission, the diplomatic missions of other countries or multinational corporations. The three ASIAC schools work together to organize athletic tournaments, academic tournaments, and arts festivals.

“It’s three days of music-making and working together,” Matthews said. “And they also… have a composer write a selection for all of the students to perform all together. So as part of the festival all of the groups will perform a world premiere of that piece.”

“This music festival promotes collaboration, friendship and non-competitive artistic expression,” she said.

Matthews was invited to conduct at the ASIAC festival by the festival organizers from the American School of Bombay, including Jami Bolton, one of Matthew’s doctoral students at Kent State University, who serves as the band teacher at the American School of Bombay in Mumbai, one of the three ASIAC schools.

Each school has the opportunity to bring 25 students from each musical classification: strings, choir and concert band, to travel to the host school to learn several works over three days, rehearse with the other middle school musicians and perform in a concert for the community.

“She is able to meet kids where they are at,” Bolton said of Matthews, “and help them grow to a new level of musicianship while also having a lot of fun. She is an amazing conductor, teacher and musician!”

Matthew’s experience teaching middle school for five years and high school students before moving to collegiate instruction, made her an excellent choice for the event. “There is a level of skill and artistry that is required to conduct a variety of students coming together for just a short amount of time,” said Matthews.

“A conductor in this situation needs to be somebody who is able to teach and communicate very quickly,” Matthews said. “Not everybody does this clinician work for honor bands, because you’ve got to work quickly, but it is really fun.”

Matthews has served as a clinician in around 60 festivals and honor ensembles with students, making her well-versed in the world of student music. This is Matthews’ second invitation to conduct at the ASAIC music festival in India, as she was also a clinician in 2017.

Her main objective is to encourage students to work together effectively by listening to one another, she said. Learning how to balance and blend music artistically encourages them to understand that they are one team working toward one goal.

During this unique opportunity to experience the power of collaboration, it is important for Matthews to communicate the joy in the musical compositions and for the students to recognize the music’s connection to human emotion as they build new friendships and experience the power of group cohesion.

“The kids develop more musicianship…,” Matthews said, “...learn about each other and learn how to collaborate in a group project.”

The student choir, orchestra and concert band will each perform separately, and then combine as one group for the finale, performing a piece that draws text from the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore, who is known as the national poet of India, a Nobel Laureate and is the composer of the Indian National Anthem.

“Music is the universal language and that is how we all come together and work together and become a more hopeful place…” said Matthews.

Matthews joined the growing School of Music in July 2025 and is widely recognized as an educator, conductor, researcher, author and musician. She came to Lipscomb from Kent State University, where she served as director of the Kent State Youth Winds. Her research spans a wide variety of topics, including group dynamics in large ensembles, sports psychology principles in conducting and the study of various learning theories.