Assistant Professor and Director of Bands, School of Music
Rachel Zephir has recently completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Band Conducting from the University of Michigan where she studied with Jason Fettig, formerly the conductor of The President’s Own. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Bands at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland. At Roosevelt, she directed four Concert Bands, Pep Band, Jazz Ensemble, and a robust chamber music program. During her tenure the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band were selected to perform at the Maryland Music Educators State Conference in 2017, the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Eastern Regional Conference at Yale University in 2018, and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) National Band Directors Consortium Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in March of 2019. The Wind Ensemble Chamber Winds were selected to perform at The Midwest Clinic in December of 2019.
Rachel currently serves on the board of the Athena Brass Band; an all female professional brass band made up of professional brass players from all over the world. She was a guest conductor of Athena for the 2025 International Women’s Brass Conference performance in Hartford, Connecticut and as a cornet player for their performance at the IWBC conference in Mito City, Japan.
Rachel was the Music Director of the Rockville Brass Band from 2020-2025. Under her leadership, the ensemble was invited to perform at major brass band venues such as the Gettysburg Brass Band Festival, the Dublin (OH) Festival of Brass, the Mid Atlantic Brass Band Festival at Rowan University, and most recently the 2025 Pershing’s Own Tuba Euphonium Conference.
Rachel is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music. She has degrees in Trumpet, Music Education, and Wind Conducting. She also has completed a Master of Music in Music Education from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.