Biography
M
r. Charles Laux, Jr., originally from Mentor, Ohio, holds degrees in music education from
Ohio University and the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Currently in his sixteenth year as a music educator, Mr. Laux is the orchestra director at
Heritage Middle School and a string specialist in the
Hilliard City Schools, Hilliard, Ohio.
In 1996, Mr. Laux began directing orchestras in the
Clark County School District centered in Las Vegas, Nevada. His first assignment was at Swainston Middle School and from 1997 until 2003, he served as orchestra director and webmaster at
Lied Middle School. During his term in the CCSD, Mr. Laux was chair of the CCSD Middle School Honor Orchestra and served as a technology consultant for the secondary music teachers.
In 2003 he relocated to Orlando, Florida and served as the orchestra director and guitar instructor at
Cypress Creek High School. After two years at Cypress Creek, Mr. Laux was appointed as the orchestra director
Winter Park High School. In 2006, the Winter Park Philharmonic was selected to perform at the prestigious
Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago.
In addition to public school teaching, Mr. Laux has spent the twelve years as an adjunct faculty member at the college level. He taught for the
College of Southern Nevada and
Valencia Community College (Orlando, FL) teaching online music appreciation courses. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member at
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he taught string instrument methods.
Mr. Laux's leadership roles include serving as president of the Nevada and
Florida chapters of the
American String Teacher's Association (ASTA). He is also a member of the
Music Educators National Conference, the
Ohio Music Educators Association, the
College Music Society, and the
Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME), and
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity.
Mr. Laux has
presented educational sessions at Florida Music Educators State Conferences (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), the 2008 & 2009 Ohio Music Educators State Conference, and yearly national ASTA conferences (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009). His session topics have included podcasting in music education, audio recording for educators, basic teaching concepts and rehearsal techniques, and class guitar instruction. He has performed with the
Las Vegas Philharmonic, the Nevada Chamber Symphony, and several other orchestral ensembles. He continues to present
educational sessions, serve as a
guest clinician, conductor, and adjudicator, and is the business manager and violinist in
The Columbus String Quartet.
For the 2007-2008 school year, Mr. Laux served as a graduate teaching associate in strings and full-time Ph.D. student in residence at
The Ohio State University under the supervision of world-renowned string pedagogue and researcher,
Dr. Robert Gillespie. His teaching duties included teaching string methods and string technique labs for music education majors, supervising student teachers, and serving as assistant conductor for the Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestra Chamber Strings. Mr. Laux is currently a Ph.D. candidate, majoring in music education with a minor in the Educational Technology. His research interests include distance learning (online instruction) and the technology practices in music education. Mr. Laux served as director of orchestra, grades 7-12, in the
New Albany-Plain Local Schools in New Albany, Ohio during the 2008-2009 school year.
In his spare time, Mr. Laux's hobbies include working with
Macintosh computers and applications, developing websites,
audio recording, softball, running, and cooking. He resides in Hilliard, Ohio with his beautiful wife Tricia, and two sons, Charles III and Anderson.
