Jason Rygg became a music educator in 1997, and has served as a band director in the Sioux Falls, SD school district since 2000.  Mr. Rygg currently is the Director of Bands at Edison Middle School. He was the first Director of Bands at George McGovern Middle School, which opened in the fall of 2014. He has taught beginning orchestra, as well as band at all levels including elementary, middle and at two high schools (Roosevelt and Washington) in the Sioux Falls School District. He has also held teaching positions in Mitchell and Ethan, South Dakota as well as Stanley, North Dakota. Mr. Rygg received his undergraduate degree from Minot State University in Minot, North Dakota and his master’s degree in instrumental conducting from the American Band College at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. He is active as a clinician and adjudicator, and is a member of South Dakota Bandmasters Association, National Association for Music Education, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a professional men’s music fraternity. Mr. Rygg was one of five finalists for the Teacher of the Year Award in the Sioux Falls School District in 2013. Since 1998, Mr. Rygg has served as a faculty member at the International Music Camp (IMC), located at the International Peace Garden between North Dakota and Manitoba. Mr. Rygg conducted the 2013 South Dakota Middle School All-State Festival Band in Pierre, SD, and has conducted many other regional honor bands in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. In February of 2015, Mr. Rygg conducted the Junior High Gold Band at the All-West Tennessee Honor Band Clinic in Memphis, TN. In November of 2016, Mr. Rygg created and conducted the first ever Sioux Falls Middle School All City Honor Band, which has since become a yearly event. During the summers of 2017 & 2018, Mr. Rygg was a guest band and jazz band conductor at the Bemidji MusiCamp, located in Bemidji, Minnesota.