JUSTIN W. LOVE
Director of Bands
Blue Valley West High School
Email: jwlove02@bluevalleyk12.org
Phone: 913-239-3814
Justin Love is pleased to join the Blue Valley West faculty as Director of Bands beginning in the fall of 2020. Previously Mr. Love served as Director of Bands at the Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi for 2 years. In addition to providing overall guidance for the 5-12 band program at Punahou, Mr. Love conducted the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band I, Punahou Marching Band, co-taught 5th and 6th Grade Band, and ran brass sectional rehearsals. At Punahou Mr. Love arranged frequent collaborations with professional artists including a joint concert with the Boston Brass in 2019.
Prior to his arrival at Punahou, Mr. Love taught band for twenty years in the Olathe, De Soto, and Ulysses public school districts in Kansas. Mr. Love’s concert, jazz, and marching bands have consistently earned top ratings and placements. Under Mr. Love’s direction, the Olathe North Wind Ensemble performed at Carnegie Hall, the 2015 Music for All National Concert Festival, and at the 2018 and 2016 Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop. The Olathe North Jazz Ensemble I also performed at the KMEA In-Service Workshop in 2016. The Olathe North Screamin’ Eagle Marching Band earned numerous awards and was a three-time finalist at the Blue Springs Golden Regiment Invitational; 2-time Heart of America Marching Festival Grand-Champion; and was Class Champion from 2015-2017 at the Kansas Bandmasters Association Championships. Olathe North was the inaugural Kansas Bandmasters Association Co-Champion in 2015 and finished no lower than 3rd place through 2017.
Mr. Love received both his Bachelors and Masters Degrees from the University of Kansas. In 2005, he was recognized as the KBA / Phi Beta Mu Outstanding Young Band Director. He was also named the De Soto High School Teacher of the Year in 2002 and 2004. Mr. Love has served as a guest conductor and adjudicator for music festivals around Kansas and Hawai’i. He was co-conductor of the Shawnee Concert Band for fifteen years.
Mr. Love has served in leadership positions at the district and state level within the Kansas Music Educators Association, Kansas Bandmasters Association, and the O’ahu Band Directors Association. He maintains active memberships in the National Association for Music Education, Hawaii Music Educators Association, Kansas Music Educators Association, National Band Association, O’ahu Band Directors Association, and Phi Beta Mu. He is also a life member of Kappa Kappa Psi.
