The concepts of literacy and fluency, and the distinctions between them, are usually associated with the art of language. These concepts can be applied to music as well as other creative and performing arts, and mastering these skills will help students in all stages of development to move to higher levels of excellence.
Randal Box retired in 2018 after twenty-seven years as director of bands at Brentwood High School and assumed the position of director of bands at the Academies of West Memphis High School and supervisor of instrumental music for the West Memphis School District in Arkansas. He retired from teaching in December 2021 and continues to maintain an active schedule as a guest conductor, concert and marching band adjudicator, and a presenter of clinics and student leadership workshops. Box is a past-president of the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association and the Tennessee Bandmasters Association, a John Philip Sousa Foundation laureate, and in 2022 was inducted into the Tennessee Bandmasters’ Hall of Fame.