(Biographical Sketch)

Peter J. LaRue was raised on a farm in south central Ohio and received his undergraduate education at the Capital University Conservatory of Music (1979). His master's (1980) and doctoral (1986) degrees are from the University of Illinois, where he specialized in the study of instrumental music education, bands and the trombone. His teachers and mentors have included Paul Young, Richard Suddendorf, Robert Gray, Charles Leonhard and E. Wayne Pressley.

Dr. LaRue serves as Director of the Tiger Bands and Coordinator of Music Education at Georgetown College. Starting in 1994 and continuing through 2009, LaRue also served as Director of Summer Programs and Camps [SP&C] at Georgetown College overseeing the growth, development and daily management of this extensive unit. Starting in 2010, he became the Executive Director for SP&C. Prior to his move to Kentucky in 1993, he served for seven years as Director of Bands at Mars Hill College in western North Carolina. Previous to this appointment, he was Director of Music for the Bloom Carroll local school district in central Ohio, where he directed the award winning “Marching Bulldog” band for four years. In the past, he has also served as low brass specialist with the Cavalier and Blue Knight Drum and Bugle Corps.

In addition to his duties at Georgetown College, since 1994 LaRue has served as the Music Director and Conductor of the Central Kentucky Concert Band in Lexington, Kentucky. He has adjudicated marching and concert band festivals in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Nevada, and serves as clinician/conductor throughout the southeast.

In 2005, LaRue received the prestigious Cawthorne Excellence in Teaching Award – the highest honor Georgetown College may bestow upon a faculty member. He also has received the Lindsey Apple Student Life Award [2010], the Milton “Shorty” Price – Tiger Athletics Hall of Fame Award [2010], the Rollie Graves Technology Award [2000] and was honored with the John Walker Manning Distinguished Mentor and Teacher Award in 1998. LaRue was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 2003.

From 2002-2004, LaRue served on the Board of Directors for KMEA [Kentucky Music Educators Association] and chaired the Public Relations and Advocacy Committee. In the past he has also served as both “Coordinator” of the Kentucky Intercollegiate Band [1997-1999] and “Co-Coordinator” [2001, 2003 & 2007] that performs each year at the KMEA In-Service Conference in Louisville. In 1998, LaRue was also made an honorary “Kentucky Colonel” by Governor Paul Patton. LaRue is an active author, being frequently published in state and regional periodicals and was honored in 2001 as he was selected to be a contributing author to the MENC text “Spotlight on Teaching Band”. Additionally, he has played trombone with several regional orchestras across the south, and from 1987-95 was a member of the Appalachian Brass Quintet with whom he performed regularly at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. LaRue continues to be an active performer on his beloved trombone across the Commonwealth and is currently a member of the Kentucky Ballet Theater Orchestra and the Bluegrass Brass Trio.

LaRue served as the Faculty Advisor [High Pi] for the Georgetown College chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha for seven years and was named the Outstanding Fraternity Advisor in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. International study/performance trips have taken him abroad twice, where he has performed in both Europe and the former Soviet Union.