Joel Boettger

Joel Boettger takes on the role of director of bands at Bethel after serving the last two years as interim director and then director of jazz studies and applied single reeds, including leading Jazz Ensemble I and Jazz Combo I.

Joel graduated from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., in 2016 with an M.M. in jazz saxophone and contemporary media. At Eastman, he studied with Charles Pillow, received the George Marge Woodwind Scholarship and played with the Eastman Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Bill Dobbins.

Joel performs frequently in the south-central Kansas area. Some of his career highlights have been playing with Johnny Mathis and playing at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Lincoln Center with the Eastman Jazz Ensemble. He has a B.A. in music from Bethel College and is a licensed K-12 educator in Kansas.