Bishop Bio


Dr. Jeffrey S. Bishop is currently the director of orchestras and division coordinator of fine arts at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. Dr. Bishop has presented sessions at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and the American String Teachers Association National Convention. He is in demand as a clinician, conductor, and composer across the country. He has served as on- line mentor for the Music Educators National Conference Online Orchestra Forum. His articles have appeared in the first three volumes of the GIA Publication “Teaching Orchestra through Performance,” the Instrumentalist magazine, and Orchestra News. Orchestras from Shawnee Mission Northwest have consistently earned the highest ratings at KSHSAA State Festivals and regional competitions across the country and have appeared at the Kansas Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop and the ASTA National Orchestra Festival.

Dr. Bishop’s compositions for string orchestra, full orchestra, concert band, and choir have been commissioned and performed in the United States, Mexico, and throughout Europe. The recipient of the 1997 National School Orchestra Association Composition Contest Award with his “Symphony for Strings No. 1,” Bishop has nearly one hundred pieces published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company, Wingert-Jones Music, and C-Alan Publications. Dr. Bishop also began a new professional relationship with Alfred Publishing in 2014. Dr. Bishop’s music is marked by strong pedagogical influences along with a traditional style that is at times reminiscent of the Renaissance period. He values melody and structure and strives to engage the audience as much as the performers through his music. He has appeared as a conductor/clinician for regional and state orchestras in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, and Oregon. His conducting style is marked by attention to detail, a strong sense of humor, and the realization that every ensemble has different challenges and strengths. He believes that every ensemble is capable of reaching their ultimate potential through hard work, dedication, and practice!

Dr. Bishop completed a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction (Music Education Cognate) at Kansas State University in 2015.  While at K-State he studied composition with Dr. Craig Weston. Dr. Bishop also studied composition with Dr. Walter A. Mays, Distinguished Professor of Music at the Wichita State University School of Music. An accomplished conductor, Dr. Bishop earned his M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from WSU in 1995. He graduated with his B.S. in Music Education from Northwest Missouri State University in 1993.

Dr. Bishop completes between three and five commissions every year for a divergent range of ensembles, from college/university/civic orchestras to middle school bands and orchestras. Samples of his music can be found online at his YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/jeffreysbishop. For more information on how to commission a piece for your ensemble, please visit www.jeffreysbishop.com.