Chaz Paxton is currently the Director of Bands at Pickens High School (SC) where he directs and conducts the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble, and the Pickens Marching Band.  Before his appointment at Pickens, Chaz served as the Director of Bands at 

Batesburg-Leesville High School in Batesburg, SC and Coordinator of Band Activities for Lexington School District Three, where he directed the Symphonic Winds, Percussion Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and the award winning Panther Marching Band.  The Panther Marching Band was a consistent South Carolina State Finalist throughout Paxton’s tenure and were named the Class AA State Champions in 2008 and the Class A State Champions in 2010 and 2011. Before joining the faculty at Batesburg-

Leesville.  Paxton was the Director of Bands at Riverside Middle School in Pendleton, SC, and Co-Director of the Pride of Pendleton Marching Band, the 2004 South Carolina AA Marching Band State Champions.  Chaz is an active clinician and guest conductor and has worked with various high 

school bands in South Carolina as a consultant, arranger, and designer, as well as having worked as an instructor and arranger with the Clemson University Tiger Band. In addition, Paxton presented a clinic on percussion pedagogy at the 63rd Annual Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL in 

December, 2009 and at the North Carolina Bandmasters Association Annual Conference in Winston Salem, NC is November, 2010.  Bands and ensembles under Paxton’s direction have received consistent Superior Ratings throughout the Southeast in concert and marching venues and have won 

multiple South Carolina Marching Band State Championships. 

Paxton received the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Southern Wesleyan University where he studied percussion with Dr. Paul Buyer and has done additional percussion study with Dr. Scott Herring of the University of South Carolina.  Paxton has performed with the Carolina Wind Symphony and the Palmetto Concert Band, both community wind bands in the Columbia, SC area.  Paxton is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the South Carolina Music Educator’s Association, the 

South Carolina Band Director’s Association, the National Band Association, and the Percussive Arts Society. Paxton served as a representative on the SCBDA Marching Committee for seven years, has served on the SCBDA Adjudication Committee, and is currently serving on the SCBDA Executive 

Board as the Marching Band Committee Chairman.  He was the 2008 Batesburg-Leesville High School Teacher of the Year, is a four time recipient of the National Band Association Citation for Marching Excellence, and in 2009 received the Professional Excellence Alumni Award from the Southern 

Wesleyan University School of Education.  Paxton is an Education Artist with Innovative Percussion, Inc. and currently resides in Six Mile, SC with his wife Leah, and their two children, Cadence and Carter.