Before moving to Michigan, Downey served as the inaugural music specialist at Sandbrock Ranch Elementary (Denton ISD – TX), where he taught K-5 general music, choir, rock band, music leadership, hip hop, and folk dancing. Downey was recognized as the 2024 Teacher of the Year at SRE, where he is now the namesake for the Dillon Downey Music Hall. He founded the Denton Community Youth Choirs and served as the Artistic Director, directing the choral program (3rd-8th grades) and the early childhood music classes (birth-5 years). He previously taught at the Midwestern State University (TX) Kodály Institute and served as the vice-president of the Kodály Educators of Texas. During his master’s studies, he taught trombone methods and all levels of undergraduate tonal aural skills at the Eastman School of Music. He has taught infants through adults for a decade in classroom, private, and rehearsal settings. The Organization of American Kodály Educators recognized Downey as the 2023 Outstanding Emerging Educator at the national conference in Jacksonville, FL.
Downey is an alumnus of the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY), where he earned Master of Music degrees in Music Education and Music Performance and Literature (Tenor Trombone). He earned the Advanced Certificate in Music Theory Pedagogy at Eastman. His undergraduate degrees in Music Education and Orchestral Performance (Tenor Trombone) are from the University of North Texas, where he graduated summa cum laude and as a Distinguished Honors Scholar. While at UNT, he studied abroad in Vienna, Austria and studied with members of the Vienna Philharmonic, while interning in a local school. He holds a full certification from the Organization of American Kodály Educators, and Early Childhood and Elementary General certifications from the Gordan Institute for Music Learning.
He has presented at school districts and universities around the country, as well as at state, national, and international conferences. His research interests are in curriculum design, accessibility, the relationship of language and music learning, blending Kodály with Music Learning Theory, community building in music education, and brass pedagogy and wellness. As a performer, he has performed in world-famous concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall, The Meyerson Center, and the Wiener Konzerthaus. As a soloist, he has performed throughout the United States and in Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic. He has performed for many of the world’s leading brass players and chamber ensembles, including the Canadian Brass, the Army Brass Quintet, and members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony, the Buffalo Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Fort Worth Symphony.
