Dr. Susan D. Creasap
2026 WBDI Hall of Fame Inductee
Susan D. Creasap is Professor Emeritus of Bands and Music Education at Morehead State University where she taught for twenty-one years, serving as Associate Director of Bands and then Director of Bands. She earned her Doctor of Arts in Wind Band Conducting/Horn Performance from Ball State University, Master of Arts in Music Education/Music History from the University of Minnesota, and Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Creasap’s varied career includes 18 years of experience as a band director in the public schools, horn instructor, and 25 years as a university band director. Her career began in Meadville, Pennsylvania where she taught elementary band, orchestra, and general music teacher for six years while concurrently teaching horn at Allegheny College. A move to Memphis, Tennessee found her teaching English for a year at Messick High School before moving to Oakhaven Junior/Senior High School where the band program grew from 85 members to 275 in five years. At that point Creasap was asked to move to Colonial Junior High School for the Performing Arts where the bands were underachieving. During her tenure at the school the band received all superior ratings, performed at the Tennessee Music Educators Conference, earned superior ratings and first place awards at Festivals of Music (Orlando, St. Louis, Williamsburg) and won the William D. Revelli Award at the Festivals of Music Competition in St. Louis, Missouri. During her years in Memphis, Creasap had a thriving horn studio and for twelve years the principal horn in either the all-state band or orchestra was one of her students. She also maintained an active schedule as a freelance horn player. In 1992, Creasap became Interim Director of Bands at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. After a three-year break to earn her doctorate, she accepted the Associate Director of Bands position at Morehead State University where, for the next twenty years, she directed the university, concert, and marching bands and taught courses in music education before serving as Director of Bands in her final year at the university.
Dr. Creasap served as a Research Associate for the acclaimed Teaching Music Through Performance in Band (12 volumes), Teaching Music Through Performance in Middle School Band (2 volumes), and Teaching Music Through Performance in Beginning Band series. Her numerous presentations at state and national conferences include the Kentucky Music Educators Association In-Service Conference, Kansas State Honor Band Clinic, Women Band Directors International Summer Conference, and The Midwest Clinic. In 2009, the Indiana Bandmasters Association established an Indiana All-State Junior High Band, Dr. Creasap was honored to be chosen as the first conductor of the new all-state ensemble. She conducted the New York Junior High Honor Band in Syracuse for NYSBDA (2014) and has twice conducted the Alabama All-State Junior High Band.
Dr. Creasap is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Kentucky Music Educators Association 2004 College/University Teacher of the Year, the National Band Association "Citation of Excellence,” the Tennessee Bandmasters Association "Award of Excellence," Women Band Directors International "Silver Baton,” Phi Beta Mu Outstanding Bandmaster Award (KY), Women Band Directors International Lifetime Achievement Award, and, mostly recently, was named to the Women Band Directors International Hall of Fame. Her University of Minnesota master’s thesis, “Johannes Brahms and the Horn,” won the School of Music Excellence in Scholarship Award. Ball State University School of Music selected her dissertation, “American Women Composers of Band Music: A Bibliography and Catalog of Works,” as its outstanding dissertation (1996). Morehead State University honored her with its “Community Engagement Award” (2006) for her work as co-founder of STAR, Saving the Animals of Rowan, Inc., a dog rescue group committed to saving shelter dogs. She continues to volunteer with several dog rescue groups and is the treasurer for TLC Rescue, Inc. Dr. Creasap serves as Mentor Coordinator for the National Band Association, chair of the National Band Association Foundation, treasurer of the Women Band Directors International Foundation, and has held numerous other national, regional, state, and district positions. She currently serves as the primary conductor of the Winds of the Blue Ridge in Roanoke, VA and remains active as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician. Creasap and her husband, John Hennen, live in scenic Craig County, Virginia with their two Bernese Mountain Dogs, Crash and Sadie.