Keith Clupper

Keith Clupper began his tenure as Director of Bands at West Forsyth High School in 2023. Previously, he taught in Cobb County as Director of Bands at McEachern High School. Before moving to Georgia, he served as a band director in the Knoxville Tennessee area including establishing the band program at a brand new Hardin Valley Academy and serving as Director of Bands at Farragut High School.

Band programs under Mr. Clupper’s leadership have competed at the highest levels of the activity. Concert ensembles consistently achieve superior ratings at Large Group Performance Assessment, have made multiple appearances at collegiate invitationals, marching bands have been active participants in Music for All Bands of America Regionals, Grand Nationals, winter guard and indoor percussion ensembles being named multi-time WGI Regional Finalists and World Championship Semi-Finalists. Marching Bands under his direction have also made invitational parade appearances in London and Hawaii.

Keith Clupper is a graduate of the University of Tennessee earning both a B.S. and M.S. degree in Music Education. While at the University of Tennessee he studied conducting with Dr. WJ Julian. He performed with the UT Wind Ensemble, UT Symphony Orchestra as well as marching four years with the Pride of the Southland Band serving as section leader. While at UT, Keith had the honor and good fortune of studying with legendary trombone professor, Don Hough. Additionally, Keith holds an Education Specialist degree from Tennessee Technological University.

Professional affiliations include serving as a charter member and Past-President of East Tennessee Performing Arts Association, serving as Regional Representative for Tennessee Bandmasters Association, holding membership in the Georgia Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, having been inducted into the Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity and a recipient of the esteemed National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence Award.

Keith lives in Dallas, Georgia with his wife and best friend, Michelle and their pup Zoe. As official self-appointed foodies, they love discovering new culinary adventures in the ATL and always look forward to the next road trip as well as travel abroad.

Nick Tucker

Nick Tucker is an alumnus of Jacksonville State University where he received his Bachelors of Arts in Instrumental Music Education. While at JSU, he participated in the Marching Southerners drumline for five years and performed with the JSU Percussion Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, and Symphonic Band. He also marched at Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, serving as section leader for the percussion section both years. Nick was also on staff at Spirit as a snare technician in 2018.

Previously, he was the Associate Director of Bands at North Forsyth High School from 2019-2023. While there, the marching band, concert bands and indoor drumline received a multitude of high achieving awards. Most recently, the indoor drumline performed in Scholastic A Finals at WGI World Championships in 2023. Nick is a board member of the Georgia Indoor Percussion Association. Nick is affiliated with the National Association for Music educators, Georgia Music Educators Association, the Percussive Arts Society.

Nick is familiar with Forsyth County, growing up in Cumming, Georgia. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, sitting on the beach and listening to live music!