Howard Potter (associate dean, jazz and percussion)

Dr. Howard Potter has served as associate dean for community and continuing education since July 1, 2002. He holds degrees from: SUNY Fredonia, the Eastman School of Music, the Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School of Music. Besides being the director of the Eastman Community Music School, Potter conducts several jazz ensembles, teaches jazz theory, and is a teacher of percussion.

Potter taught elementary, middle, and high school band and orchestra for over 10 years in Syracuse, NY. With over 25 years' professional performing experience, Howard Potter has played with numerous orchestras and bands including the Rochester Philharmonic (extra), the Erie Philharmonic, the National Orchestral Association at Carnegie Hall, the West Point Band, and with several Off Broadway theater companies. While a professional musician in the West Point Band, Potter founded the West Point Youth Orchestra.

Howard Potter is also director of the Eastman Pathways program and served on the executive board of the Onondaga County Music Educator's Association, and is currently on the RPYO board. Potter has conducted numerous All County jazz ensembles including Monroe County, and he has been both conductor and on the board of advisors for the Society for New Music. Dr. Potter is married and the father of three children. Potter grew up in Tunisia, Ghana, Argentina, Brazil, and Washington, DC, and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. Next to being a husband and father, his greatest source of pride is being a teacher and sharing his love of music with his students.