Nathan Rinnert

Based on the Mansfield campus, Dr. Nathan Rinnert serves as the Department Chairperson in the Department of Music, Theater, & Dance at Commonwealth University of PA.  As Assistant Director of Bands he co-directs The Spirit & Pride of Pennsylvania Marching Band and directs the MU Symphonic Band, the Mountaineer Brass Band, MU Tuba-Euphonium Consort, and the Mountie Sound Machine (MU Basketball Band). In addition, he instructs the tuba studio, supervises instrumental music student teachers, and teaches courses in instrumental music methods and conducting.

Dr. Rinnert is an active performer, educator, clinician, and scholar. He performed with the 1989 All-American College Band at Disneyland, spent two years playing at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki, Japan, and enjoyed a five-year stint with Joel Kaye’s “Neophonic Jazz Orchestra,” in Denver, Colorado. He has played tuba and trombone with the Longmont (CO) Symphony, the Timberline (CO) Symphony, the Lawrence (KS) Symphony, the Montgomery (AL) Symphony, the Miami (FL) Symphony, the Williamsport (PA) Symphony, and the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes (NY).

Dr. Rinnert’s PhD in music education and conducting from the University of Miami culminated with a dissertation entitled, “A History of the Bands at the Teachers’ School in Mansfield, Pennsylvania: 1871-1971.” He also holds a master’s degree in music education from Auburn University and a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Kansas.

Prior to his appointment at Mansfield University, Dr. Rinnert also taught public school instrumental music in Paonia, Colorado and Longmont, Colorado, and was the Director of Athletic Bands at the University of Denver. He has conducted honor bands and clinics in Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, and New York.

Dr. Rinnert is the faculty advisor for the Mansfield chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, and a member of National Association for Music Education, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, the Collegiate Band Directors National Association, the Pennsylvania Collegiate Bandmasters Association, the International Tuba-Euphonium Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Tau Beta Sigma.