Julia Donnel is an Assistant Band Director at Claudia Taylor Johnson High School, a position she has held since 2020. Prior to this, she was an Assistant Band Director at Del Rio High School from 2017 to 2020. Ms Donnel works with the non-varsity bands at Johnson and assists with the marching band. She is an accomplished clarinetist and the primary woodwind instructor for the program. Ms. Donnel attended Winston Churchill High School in San Antonio and received her bachelor’s degree in music studies from Texas State University.
While attending Texas State University, she studied with internationally acclaimed clarinetist Dr. Vanguel Tangarov and performed in the Texas State Wind Symphony conducted by Dr. Caroline Beatty. In addition, she also performed as the principal clarinetist of the Texas State Opera and the Texas State University Symphony Orchestra in their performance of Mozart’s Requiem. She was invited to participate in “Balabanov’s House Music Days”, an international music festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
During her time at Del Rio, Ms. Donnel was responsible for directing the Sub Non-Varsity Concert Band and leading the woodwind program for the marching band. She also directed a non-varsity mariachi group. Since 2017, the Del Rio Band has seen great success in both marching and concert band ensembles, including an appearance at the 2020 UIL State Marching Contest.
During her spare time she enjoys going to the beach, going to wildlife reserves and spending time with her friends and family.
