Dr. Worthy is the Director of Ole Miss Jazz and teaches undergraduate and graduate music education courses.
Research Interests
Michael Worthy is a Professor of Music and the Director of Ole Miss Jazz. The Ole Miss Jazz studio includes 2 big bands, multiple jazz combos comprised of students and faculty, a traditional jazz group, and the UM Salsa project in collaboration with the Percussion studio. Under his direction, the Mississippians Jazz Ensemble have performed at the Jazz Education Network National Conference, the Mississippi Bandmasters Association State Clinic, the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival in South Bend, IN, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, IT, Jazz a Jùan festival in Antibes, FR, Jazz in Marciac festival in Marciac, FR, and Jazzaldia in San Sebastian, SP. Dr. Worthy has adjudicated jazz festivals, directed honor groups and presented at state conferences across the country, including the Jazz Education Network, the Midwest Clinic and the National Association for Music Education. He has numerous publications and was commissioned by Oxford University Press to write on jazz education topics in the Grove Dictionary of American Music and the Oxford Handbook of Music Education. He has published research in the Journal of Research in Music Education, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, the Journal of Music Teacher Education and Teaching Music. He was a founder and editor of the Southern Music Education Journal and has served on the selection committees for numerous conferences. He earned his B.M.E. and M.M. at Southwestern Oklahoma State University and his Ph.D. in Music Education at The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to his appointment at the University of Mississippi, he taught at Castleton University in Vermont, and was a band director in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Education
BM Music, Southwestern Oklahoma State University (1989)
MM Music Education, Southwestern Oklahoma State University (1991)
Ph.D. Music Education, University of Texas at Austin (1997)