Nevin brings 35+ years of music pedagogy and student travel experience to Choice Music Tours. Nevin has been an active participant in both PMEA and IAJE for many years, and is a former president of PMEA District 3 and Region II. He holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and also has done graduate work in jazz pedagogy at the Vandercook College of Music in Chicago. As a performer, Nevin has played in the Tommy Phillips Orchestra, Pittsburgh Jazz Society Big Band, Bill Carmichael Big Band, the jazz orchestra for the tour of Chita Rivera, and Standard Time Jazz Quintet.
He began his teaching career in 1981 in Pittsburgh where he directed the Churchill High School Jazz Ensemble. His next position was the graduate assistantship for the IUP Marching Band under the direction of Dr. Charles Casavant. Following that, he was director of bands at Bedford High School. He has taught for 30 years in the Indiana (PA) Area School District, where he has instructed Junior High band, chorus, orchestra and jazz band as well as Senior High marching band, wind ensemble, symphonic band and jazz ensemble. In 1996, he initiated the Indiana Area School District jazz artist-in-residence program.
Nevin’s trip planning logistics have taken his groups to yearly destinations. His marching bands have made multiple appearances at the Hollywood Christmas Parade, the Fiesta Bowl Parade, and several Disney World Parades. The Indiana Band also marched in the Citrus and Orange Bowl Parades in Florida as well as the Azalea and Cherry Blossom Parades in the DC area. His jazz ensembles have performed in two PMEA State Conventions in Philadelphia and Hershey, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Den Haag, Netherlands. Nevin has taken other student groups to Toronto, Cleveland, Chicago, Manhattan and New Orleans.
