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Women Band Directors International (WBDI) mourns the passing of our visionary founder and beloved friend, Gladys Stone Wright. Her life and legacy have profoundly shaped generations of women in music.
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In 1969, Gladys Stone Wright founded what would become Women Band Directors International with a simple but powerful vision: to create a supportive community where women band directors could connect, share, and thrive in a profession where they were too often the only one in the room. Through her pioneering leadership, resilience, and deep belief in mentorship, she built not just an organization, but a movement—one that continues to open doors for women band directors throughout the world.
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The influences of Gladys Stone Wright reach far beyond the podium. Every rehearsal led by a woman conductor, every student inspired by an empowered teacher, and every member of WBDI who finds strength and belonging within our organization carries forward her legacy.
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During this time, we hold each other close and remember lovingly our founder, our mentor, our friend—Gladys Stone Wright. Her spirit lives on in the music we make, the students we teach, and the community she created with such care and vision.
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More information will be shared at a later date regarding arrangements and ways to honor her memory.
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As we reflect on her remarkable life, we rededicate ourselves to her vision: to uplift, support, and champion women in the band profession everywhere.​
Personal Life
Wright was born on March 8, 1925 in Wasco, Oregon. Her childhood was spent in Oregon at a lumber camp, and she started to learn music when she received a year's worth of free piano lessons along with a $5 clarinet. Wright attended Lebanon High School, where she was part of the school's band and newspaper. She graduated from high school in 1943, and studied at Willamette University for one year. She went to the University of Oregon a year later, where she received her undergraduate and master's degrees. Her husband was Purdue University band director Al G. Wright.
Career
Wright was a high school band director at a time when that was considered an unusual job for a woman, and many school administrators were against hiring a woman for the position. She was the second woman to become a member of the American School Band Directors Association, which included 450 men. In Oregon, Wright conducted the band at Elmira Union High School for five years. During her final year at Elmira Union, the high school's band went to the Northwest Music Educators Conference. Wright said of the conference, "It was the only time they had had a woman director, and the clinic session was packed by male directors just to see what a woman could do." The male band directors applauded the performance.
She founded the Women Band Directors National Association, was a part of the North American Congress of Bands, and served as a member of various band-related organizations. Wright was the first woman to be a guest conductor with the United States Navy Band and the Goldman Band. Her school bands received "superior" ratings for 22 consecutive years. She is also a composer, author, music judge, and clinician. She has written for national magazines, and composed "The Big Bowl March" and "Trumpets and Tabards".​
Awards
In 1969, Wright received a citation of excellence from the National Band Association. Wright won the Tau Beta Sigma "National Award for Service to Music" at the University of Michigan in 1971. The award "recognizes the contributions made by distinguished female conductors, composers, educators, administrators, artists, and clinicians" who have helped promote bands as a "musical art form". In 1999, Wright was the first woman to be elected to the National Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors. The day before her February 6 induction ceremony, she was the honored guest conductor of the Troy State University Symphony Band. The Gladys Stone Wright Scholarship is awarded to women who intend to have a career as a band director.​
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