Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicholas Efstathiou.
Hi Nicholas, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story in music started in Mrs. Smith’s fifth grade classroom because of a friend named Greg. He sat with me in class and encouraged me to get involved in music. I did not know I had a musical bone in my body. Music was/is something I had to work hard to learn, and I still do. I certainly did not know then where that decision would take me or how it would eventually shape the way I served others.
I eventually attended Troy University on a music scholarship, playing tuba. My original plan was to become an acoustical engineer, but Troy did not offer that degree at the time. Someone suggested music education because I played tuba, so that is the direction I took. Just a different form of acoustical engineering, I guess!
One of my first interactions with Troy’s band director, Mr. Robert W. Smith, was in his office. I won’t go into detail how I got there, but I needed his direction at the time. He explained that I was there on a music scholarship, not a tuba scholarship. Later in the semester in music theory class, Mr. Ralph Ford told me I was a MUS 101 underachiever, among other things when we had to Transcribe Billy Joel’s, Summer Highland Falls. Those conversations changed my approach to music education. I knew I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. I wanted to teach, coach, and help shape who people could become, but I had not yet figured out exactly how. I needed people like that in my life to set me on the right path, and I have come to believe that God has called me to do the same for others.
At one point, I considered changing my major to business. My professors saw the promise in me and encouraged me to stick with music education, and I am glad I did. What really made me fall in love with being a band director was teaching band camps in college. I loved working with the students, and that was when I began to see this as something I could do with my life.
My first teaching job was at Georgiana High School in Georgiana, Alabama, in January 2004. I had 22 students in a band class that included grades seven through twelve, and I also taught sixth grade beginning band at the elementary school. I had two general music classes with no curriculum, so we worked with what we had. I repaired instruments, taught the students about music and band, and before long, we were repairing instruments, playing drums, and other school-owned instruments.
During that time, the principal, Mr. Petty, asked whether I liked baseball. I did not realize it then, but apparently that was my interview for the head girls’ softball coaching position. I told him I should probably focus on the band.
Then he told me what it paid.
So I became the head girls’ softball coach.
We did well, as well as we could have, and that coaching job eventually played a part in how I met my wife. That is a whole other story.
By May, the band had more than doubled in size, and we took the students to perform at the spring football jamboree. Around that time, Mr. Ralph Ford, Troy University’s band director, asked me to become his graduate assistant. I returned to Troy to earn my master’s degree, and studying with Mr. Ford and Dr. Mark Walker deepened my love for teaching.
I had found my people. They helped shape the teacher and person I am today. It was also during that time that I met my wife, Kelly, in person.
I graduated in the spring of 2006 and had the opportunity to return to my hometown of Panama City, Florida, as the band director at Bay High School. Fewer than 30 students were in the band, and I had a program to rebuild.
That summer, I searched the band office for anything with former students’ names on it. I started calling them and asking them to come back and play. By the first football game, we had 71 students.
Four years later, more than 120 students were marching in the 2010 McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We also received an invitation to participate in the 2012 Orange Bowl festivities. The band kept growing, and I kept being the Pied Piper, finding students and encouraging them to join what we were building.
In 2017, we performed at the Con Brio music festival in Whistler, British Columbia. We were also invited to participate in the 2020 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland. I was excited to see these students travel and experience opportunities through band. I was proud of what we were building together.
Then, in October 2018, Hurricane Michael hit Panama City and Mexico Beach as a Category 5 hurricane. Our home, my band room, and our church were all damaged. So much of our life was affected at once.
Kelly and I prayed about what came next, and an opportunity opened up at Jeff Davis High School in her hometown of Hazlehurst, Georgia in the fall of 2019. We moved there, and I began working with another group of students and families.
Then came the spring of 2020, and we all know what happened.
The pandemic changed the course of my career. We had to reset and rebuild, which was challenging. Over time, though, the students and families began moving forward. I started seeing the same kind of mindset at Jeff Davis that I had helped develop in Panama City. We were making progress, and it was exciting to watch that take shape.
Kelly is an artist and songwriter, and she later had the opportunity to pursue music in Nashville. Around the same time, I was offered a position as associate band director at Riverdale High School. In the fall of 2024, we moved to Murfreesboro.
It was an unconventional move in the first 8 weeks of the school year, but it allowed Kelly to follow her career and calling while giving me the opportunity to continue doing something I love. Today, I work with the team at Riverdale to help our students and program experience the kind of growth and success I have been fortunate to be part of elsewhere.
In 2025, I was honored to be named a CMA Foundation Music Teacher of ExcellenThat same year, I was recognized as an Honored Listee by Marquis Who’s Who. Those recognitions mean a lot to me. When I think about how I started, a fifth grader getting involved in music because of a friend, and about all the students, families, and teachers who have shaped my journey, I have a lot to be thankful for.
Mr. Ford and Dr. Walker helped shape me, and I hope I am making that same kind of difference for the students I teach today. In many ways, my life has come full circle. A friend’s encouragement first led me into music, and now I have the privilege of encouraging students who may not yet know where their own first steps will lead. The lasting impact of teaching is not measured only by performances or awards. It is measured by the confidence, discipline, character, and sense of possibility students carry with them long after they leave the band room.
I love being a band director. I want students to become the best versions of themselves and hold themselves to the same standards they expect from others. Most will not become professional musicians. They will become doctors, lawyers, business owners, and professionals in all kinds of fields. But the preparation, responsibility, and attention to detail we develop in band will matter wherever they go, I call it “the key signatures of life.”
I want students to take ownership of their choices and understand that they can improve. Their mindset helps shape their future, and what they do with that future affects the people around them. I knew early on that I wanted to make a difference and help shape lives. A friend once helped me take my first step into music. Through teaching band, I have found a way to help students take their own first steps, discover what they are capable of, and carry that growth into the rest of their lives.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I love being a band director, but there have been several times when we were building something, making progress, and getting excited about what was ahead, only to have circumstances change the direction of our lives.
Hurricane Michael was one of those moments. In October of 2018, we had a band program at Bay High School that had grown tremendously. Our students were traveling, performing, and receiving invitations to do some incredible things. This was my hometown, and I was proud of what the students and families had helped us build. Then the hurricane hit, and our home, my band room, and our church were all damaged. Three major parts of our life were affected at the same time. Kelly and I had to pray and figure out what came next for our family.
That eventually brought us to Jeff Davis High School in Hazlehurst, Georgia. I was getting to know the students and families and working to build something with them. Then came the spring of 2020, and we all know what happened. The pandemic changed the course of my career. It was another reset and another rebuild, and that was challenging.
Building a band program takes time because you’re working with people. You’re developing relationships, establishing expectations, and helping students take ownership of what they’re doing. We did make progress at Jeff Davis, and I started seeing similarities in the students’ mindset to what I had seen develop in Panama City. That was encouraging, but getting there took time and work.
There are also the ongoing challenges of education itself. Education is always evolving, from the politics of education to the bureaucracy involved in doing the job. Expectations change, and you have to keep adapting. I got into this because I wanted to teach, coach, and make a difference in students’ lives. Figuring out how to give students what they need while navigating all the other responsibilities of education is part of the challenge.
Some of the struggles have also been very practical. At my first school, I had general music classes with no curriculum provided, so I had to figure out what we could do with what we had. When I started at Bay, there were fewer than 30 students in the band. I spent that first summer finding names and calling students, asking them to come back. Before we could think about taking a trip or performing in a parade, we had to get students in the room. We can’t teach empty chairs.
I want my students to understand that their mindset and their response to a situation matter. I also want them to hold themselves to the same standard they hold others. That means I have to keep applying those things to myself. I’m still learning, still adapting, and still working to become a better teacher.
So, no, it hasn’t been smooth. But I love what I do, and the good times outweighs the bad. When students begin taking ownership, believing in themselves, and seeing what they can accomplish together, I get excited. Helping them get to that point is what I wanted to do when I started, and it’s what I still want to do today.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I develop leaders. As a band director, I bring people from different backgrounds together and help them accomplish something bigger than any one person could achieve alone.
Today, I serve as associate band director at Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Our students bring different backgrounds, personalities, abilities, and life experiences to the band room. We unite them around a common goal, give everyone a meaningful role, and help each person understand how their choices affect the entire group. Building that awareness, and helping students take ownership of it, is central to my work.
I want students to recognize their influence. How they prepare, respond to setbacks, treat someone who is struggling, and follow through all matter. Each choice is an opportunity to practice leadership.
Much of my career has focused on building and rebuilding programs. At Bay High School, we began with fewer than 30 students. During that first summer, I reached out to students one by one and invited them to return and give band a chance. We grew to 71 students by the first football game. Four years later, more than 120 students marched in the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. That progress required students, families, and the community to work together and believe in what we could accomplish.
I’m proud of those milestones, but I’m even prouder of the work behind them. Students learned to depend on one another, accept responsibility, and recognize that individual choices shape the entire group. That growth is what motivates me.
I believe we should hold ourselves to the same standards we expect from others. We expect people to prepare, communicate, pay attention, and follow through. I challenge students to ask whether they are meeting those standards, too, and I hold myself to the same expectation.
I bring experience helping people unite around a shared goal, along with a genuine passion for coaching and development. I enjoy helping people recognize their potential and identify the steps required to reach it. Sometimes that means encouragement. Sometimes it means an honest conversation about effort, preparation, or accountability. In every case, it requires understanding the people you lead and remaining committed to your own growth.
I want to bring that same approach to businesses and workplace teams. Strong teams depend on communication, preparation, trust, and personal ownership. I work with leaders who want to strengthen those habits, develop their people, and help their teams perform at a higher level.
If your team could benefit from clearer expectations, stronger accountability, and more confident leadership, let’s talk. I would welcome the opportunity to learn about your goals and explore how I can help your people work together, take ownership, and accomplish something they can be proud of.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Podcast List:
Fly on the Wall – Dana Carvey & David Spade
The Way I heard It – Mike Row
The Manager’s Playbook – Mauricio Ruiz
SongTown-Marty Dodson & Clay Mills
The Diary of a CEO
The Band Dads – Chris Flynn & Scott Rush
Books:
Laws of Human Nature-Robert Greene
The art of Expressing Music – Ed Lisk
Be Useful Seven Tools for life – Arnold Schwarzenegger
Wisdom of the Bullfrog-William H. McRaven
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyond_the_bandroom
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-efstathiou
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@beyond_the_bandroom
