Olathe Civic Band

Olathe Civic Band Board of Directors

Ed Colson

Director

Ed Colson is the Director Olathe Civic Band. He retired from Pubic Education in 2009. He served as director of bands at Olathe Northwest High School from 2003-2009.   He was the Director of Bands at Oregon Trail Junior High from 1978-2002. Prior to that, he was at Pomona High School and Rosedale Middle School.

Ed graduated from Baker University in 1973. He earned his Master's Degree from that same institution in 1988.

Ed served as KMEA District I Junior High/Middle School Band Chairman from 1983-1991. During that tenure, he developed the Junior High and Middle School Festival Bands that are still in operation today. Ed has served as a clinician for the Warner Bros./Belwin Mills Publishing Company and is called on to serve as a guest conductor and clinician several times each year throughout Kansas and Missouri. He has been a frequent staff member of the Midwestern Music Camp held each summer on the University of Kansas Campus.

Ed received the National Band Association Award for Outstanding Jazz Education in 1993. He is listed in the 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, and 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2007 editions of Who's Who of American Teachers. He is listed in the 2006 edition of Outstanding American Teachers. Ed is a 2010 recipient of inclusion in the Presidential Who’s Who as well as the Cambridge Who’s Who. He received the Outstanding Jazz Educator Award from the National Band Association in 1994.   In 1999, he was the first recipient of the Outstanding Middle Level Music Teacher Award for the Northeastern District of Kansas, an award presented by the Kansas Music Educators Association. He was an Olathe District finalist for the Kansas Master Teacher of the Year award that same year.   In November of 2001, Ed received the Educator Excellence Award presented by the Olathe Public Schools Foundation, just the second educator to receive the award.   In April of 2003, Ed was notified that he was the recipient of the John Philip Sousa Legion of Honor Award. This award is presented to band directors who have established a tradition of excellence in their profession. Since its inception in 1982, only 182 band directors world-wide have received this honor. He was officially inducted into the Legion of Honor on December 19, 2003, at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. Ed is co-founder of the new Penn Valley/Kansas City Jazz Festival held in Kansas City’s historic 18th and Vine District. Ed is also on the Board of Directors for the Johnson County Wind Symphony. Ed and his wife Judy were recognized in May of 2009, on the floor of the Kansas Senate with an official resolution honoring their service and success Kansas Public Education. Ed and Judy were also 2009 recipients of the City of Olathe’s Community Pride Award recognizing them for their contributions to the city of Olathe, Kansas.

In 2003, Ed was contacted by the John Philip Sousa Foundation to develop and implement an all-state junior high/middle school honor band for the state of Kansas. The inaugural John Philip Sousa Kansas Junior Honor Band performance was on February 1, 2003. The project was a huge success involving over 175 students from every corner of the state. The Kansas Junior Honor Band is now a model for sixteen programs taking place all over the United States. Ed continues to serve as Master of Ceremonies for this annual event.

In early 2008, the Olathe News listed Ed as number 40 on their list of the 150 most notable people in Olathe’s 150-year history.

Ed is very involved in the community, serving on Olathe’s Sister Cities Committee. He is co-chair for the Optimist Club Golf Tournament benefiting Camp Quality. He is musical coordinator for Winterfest, Olathe’s Mayors Christmas Tree Lighting celebration. Ed is also on the board of directors for the Olathe Arts Alliance. He continues to coach the Olathe Northwest High School Men’s Golf Team. His wife Judy, a former Olathe band director and teaching partner, plays clarinet in the Civic Band.

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