Contact

KMEA Office

Office hours: Monday through Friday, 9AM-5PM Eastern Time
Address: 1010 Brandy Lane, Suite C, Richmond, KY 40475
Telephone: (859) 626-5635
FAX: (859) 626-1115

Holidays (office closed): New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas. If a holiday falls on a weekend, the office will be closed on a Monday or a Friday, at the discretion of the Executive Director.

Mailing Address:
Kentucky Music Educators Association
P. O. Box 1058
Richmond, Kentucky 40476-1058.

UPS and FedEx Delivery Address:
1010 Brandy Lane, Suite C
Richmond, KY 40475


Office Staff

Left to right: Tony Isaac, Jessica Griffieth, Kathy Randles, Tori Bowman, Melissa Skaggs, Dr. John Stroube
Dr. John Stroube
Executive Director
Mrs. Melissa Skaggs
Associate Director
Mr. Anthony Isaac
Accounts Payable & Receivable
Tori Bowman
Assistant to the Executive Director
Jessica Griffieth
Administrative Assistant
Kathy Randles
Music Librarian

Responsibilities Chart

Staff Biographies

Dr. John Stroube (john@kmea.org): is the Executive Director of the Kentucky Music Educators Association. Prior to his current appointment, he was the KMEA Associate Director, before which he was the interim Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Dr. Stroube was awarded a DMA in conducting and pedagogy at the University of Southern Mississippi in 2004 where he studied with Dr. Thomas V. Fraschillo. While at U.S.M. he served as a graduate assistant for the University Bands, and was also the Executive Administrator for the National Band Association, bearing responsibility for the daily operations of that organization’s national office.

A graduate of Bowling Green High School, Dr. Stroube has a Bachelor of Music from Western Kentucky University, and a Master of Science in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has done additional study at Northern Illinois University, VanderCook College, and Murray State University.

During Dr. Stroube’s public school career he was the Director of Bands for the Murray Independent Schools from 1988 through 2001, prior to which he taught for eleven years in Illinois. High school bands under his direction were consistently granted Division I ratings at concert band festival. The marching band at Murray High School was rated “Superior” each year of his tenure and was second place in the Kentucky Class A Marching Band Championships in 1997. Dr. Stroube’s public school experience includes responsibility for bands at all levels, middle school and high school choirs, and elementary classroom music.

As a member of the Kentucky Music Educators Association, Dr. Stroube served as First District Band Chairman, and as a representative on the state Marching Band Board of Control. He is a member of the National Band Association, the International Clarinet Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and of Phi Beta Mu, for which he served as state secretary-treasurer for three years. In the spring of 1998, the music educators of the KMEA First District selected him as their high school teacher of the year.

When his administrative duties allow, Dr. Stroube enjoys conducting and playing clarinet. He has performed with numerous community bands and orchestras during his career. In 2009 he organized a community band in Richmond, and he programs concerts for that ensemble throughout the year. To help promote arts in his community, he served for five years on the board of the Richmond Area Arts Council. He also serves as the artistic director for the Great American Brass Band Festival of Danville, Kentucky.

The Western Kentucky University Department of Music selected Dr. Stroube as the 2017–2018  inductee for its Wall of Fame, which recognizes achievement in the field of music.

Mrs. Melissa Skaggs (melissa@kmea.org): is the Associate Director of the Kentucky Music Educators Association. A native of Kentucky and member of her middle school band and high school choir, Melissa began participating in KMEA events at an early age. With a love for music and singing, she pursued and received a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance and Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky in 2000 where she studied with Dr. Everett McCorvey, the late Gail Robinson and Dr. Jefferson Johnson. As a student at UK, Melissa was an active member of the opera department playing the role of Musetta in La Bohemé, and participating in the chorus of The Magic Flute, L’Elizir D’amoré, and Die Fleidermaus. She served as 1998-99 president of University of Kentucky Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota. As a member of the choral program, she performed with the Women’s Chorus, Chorister’s, Chorale and Paws n Listen, Women’s a capella group. Melissa interned with Spoleto Festival, USA in Charleston, SC and the Singletary Center for the Arts in Lexington, KY, in Marketing and PR.

Mrs. Skaggs spent a brief time following her graduation in Lowell, Massachusetts serving as the Box Office Manager for the Merrimack Repertory Theatre, after which she moved back to Kentucky to accept a position with Delta Queen Steamboat Co., performing on the Mississippi Queen. She was married shortly after and decided to stay in Lexington permanently, where she eventually began working for the University of Kentucky Federal Credit Union as the Electronic Media Specialist in the Marketing Department. Melissa joined the KMEA staff in 2006, after longing to work for an organization which brought her back to the field she so dearly loved—music.

Melissa enjoys participating in her church music programs, singing for weddings and special events, spending time with her husband, family and friends, and especially being a mother to her daughter, Katie Beth.