David J. Saccardi

David J. Saccardi is an Assistant Professor of Music Education at Louisiana State University. His research in music education and cognition includes peer-assisted learning in music classrooms, working memory and melodic recall in musicians, parental involvement in music instruction, and pedagogical topics in string education. His work has been published in prominent research journals in music and psychology along with practitioner journals in string pedagogy and performance. He currently serves on the editorial board for American String Teacher and as a consulting teacher trainer for Kids Orchestra. He is an active orchestra adjudicator and clinician, working with students across the United States and he has presented sessions at several state music conferences along with sessions at national conferences for the American String Teachers’ Association (ASTA) and the Suzuki Association of the Americas.

A former public school teacher, Saccardi taught middle school and high school orchestra in Loveland, Colorado, elementary school strings in Austin, Texas, and was orchestra director at Hummingbird Music Camp in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. Orchestras under his direction have been ranked consistently superior at state music contests and musical theatre productions under his baton were award nominated. In 2016, he was recognized by the Colorado Chapter of the ASTA as the Exemplary Secondary Orchestra Director for the State of Colorado. He currently serves as Vice President for the Louisiana ASTA Chapter.

Dr. Saccardi has performed on double bass with regional orchestras in Central Texas, the Louisiana Gulf Coast, Northern Colorado, and Wyoming. He has been an active double bass teacher since 2004, with registered training through the Suzuki Association of the Americas and several former private students who have pursued music as a career. He holds music education and double bass performance degrees from Colorado State University, a Masters Degree in Music Education from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Music and Human Learning from the University of Texas at Austin.