Charles “Chip” Staley

Wind Ensemble Retreat Co-Director | Naperville, IL

Charles “Chip” Staley directs the Wind Symphony and is the Large Ensemble Department Chair at the Merit School of Music in Chicago. Staley is the Founder and President of ARTSpeaks, a non-profit arts advocacy organization, supervises student teachers at Roosevelt University, facilitates the “Alive Inside” program for AgeGuide and teaches graduate coursework at the VanderCook College of Music.

Under Staley’s leadership, Neuqua Valley High School was twice recognized by the GRAMMY® Foundation as the National GRAMMY® Signature School and was awarded the 2009 John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts National Schools of Distinction in Arts Education Award.

Staley holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, the University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign and Doctor Honoris Causa from the VanderCook College of Music. He has been awarded the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Music Inspiration Award, the John Paynter Lifetime Achievement Award, the John Philip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Flag of Honor, the Illinois Music Educators Association Mary Hoffman Excellence in Teaching Award, and the American School Band Directors Association Franko Goldman Award.

2024 marks Staley’s seventh season with Birch Creek.