Band Directors

Kristopher Chandler,

Director of Bands

Kristopher Chandler is in his eighth year of teaching and second year as Director of Bands for Gautier High School in Gautier, Mississippi. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Chandler taught at Stone High School and Oak Grove High School. While a member of these teams, the Stone High School Band was named the 2019 MHSAA/MBA 4A State Marching Champion and the Oak Grove High School Band was named the 2017 MHSAA/MBA 6A State Marching Champion. In addition to these achievements, all middle and high school ensembles under Mr. Chandler's direction have consistently earned All-Superior Ratings in Marching, Concert, and Sight-Reading performance and earned multiple Sweepstakes Awards.


Mr. Chandler holds a Bachelor of Music Education Degree from The University of Southern Mississippi and a Master of Music Education Degree from VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois. As a Presidential Scholar at Southern Miss, Mr. Chandler published his research entitled “Do You Want To Be Successful? Successfully Selecting Performance Repertoire for Concert Festival Evaluation.” His Graduate research culminated in the publishing of “Am I on the Right Path? A Survey of Appropriate Literature for Middle School Band Evaluation.” Mr. Chandler’s professional affiliations include the Mississippi Band Directors Association, Gulf Coast Band Directors Association, American School Band Directors Association, National Band Association, and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. In 2018, he was named the A.E. McClain Outstanding Young Band Director of the Year.



Reed Parker,

Assistant Director of Bands

Reed Parker is in his second year of teaching - both of which have been with the Gautier Band Program as an Assistant Director of Bands. He is a 2020 graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi where he pursued a music education degree with an emphasis in percussion. During his time at USM, he played both snare drum and bass drum in the Pride of Mississippi Marching Band, participated in the Southern Miss Steel Pan Orchestra, and performed in the percussion and concert ensembles. Outside of school, he played snare drum for the Louisiana Stars Drum and Bugle Corps in 2016 as well as the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps in 2018. Mr. Parker’s professional affiliations include the Mississippi Band Directors Association and the Gulf Coast Band Directors Association. He is currently a resident in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and is married to his lovely wife Anna. He is very excited about spending his first year here and can not wait to get started!

Stephanie McArthur,

Singing River Academy Band Director,

Stephanie McArthur is a twenty-two year veteran of Mississippi public education, and currently is in her twelfth year of service to the Pascagoula-Gautier School District, where she serves as beginning band coordinator for the Gautier Attendance Zone. Bands under her direction consistently earned superior ratings in concert, sight-reading and marching on both the state and regional level.

Mrs. McArthur’s professional memberships include Mississippi Bandmasters Association, Phi Beta Mu, American School Band Directors Association, East Central Mississippi Band Director Association, where she is a Past President, Mississippi Women's Band Director Association (where she is a past president) and the Gulf Coast Band Directors Association. She was Teacher of the Year for the 2018-19 school year at Singing River Academy and was recognized in School Band and Orchestra’s December 2018 edition “50 Directors Who Make a Difference”. This past summer Mrs. McArthur served as assistant concert director for the Mississippi Lions All-State Band.

When not teaching, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her husband Chris and daughters Kathryn and Elizabeth.


Louise Smith,

Gautier Middle School Band Director,

Louise Smith is currently in her twentieth year as the band director for Gautier Middle School in the Pascagoula-Gautier School District. When not teaching band at Gautier Middle School, Mrs. Smith is extremely active in promoting teacher leadership. She is a Teacher Leadership Initiative alumnus and currently serves as a state coach for the Teacher Leadership Institute, a joint project between the National Education Association, National Boards for Professional Teaching Standards, and the Center for Teach Quality. In addition, she has worked on several national education initiatives such as National Boards Jump Start Initiative, Teacher Leadership Initiative Redesign, and served on the Standards Setting and Content Validation committee for the National Boards for Professional Teaching Standards. Recently, U.S. News and World Report featured Mrs Smith as one of the “Twenty Professionals Who Made a Difference During the Pandemic.” When not actively engaged in education, her favorite time spent is traveling with her husband, Brian, and spoiling their puppy, Polly.