Valerie Shanley

Valerie Shanley has nearly 30 years of experience teaching band students in Northeast Iowa and currently works with sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students at Taft Middle School in Cedar Rapids (where students begin band in sixth grade). Shanley earned Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Education degrees from the University of Northern Iowa, and she is a member of the Northeast Iowa Bandmasters Association (NEIBA), Iowa Bandmasters Association, and Jazz Educators of Iowa.

Shanley is active as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. She is currently serving as the NEIBA Middle School Honor Band Chair and has also served NEIBA as Publicity Chair. Shanley is the director of the KCCK Kirkwood Middle School Jazz Band Camp, a weeklong summer camp for elementary and middle school band students. In addition to her career as an educator, Shanley performs as a professional hornist throughout Iowa. She has been a member of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony for more than 25 years, is a long-time member of the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band, and she substitutes regularly in the horn sections of other area ensembles.