Mrs. Rizzo's Blog

Deana Rizzo is a 1995 graduate of the University of Montevallo with a Master of Music degree. She earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Troy State University in 1993 where she served as the principal flute in the Symphony Band and piccolo section leader of The Sound of the South. Mrs. Rizzo is currently in her twenty-fifth year of teaching in the Shelby County School system, with twenty-two of those years serving as band director at Chelsea Middle School. She previously taught general music at Calera Elementary and choir at Chelsea Middle. Under her direction, the band program has grown from a humble 50+ students sixth through eighth grades to over 225 students currently. In recent years the band program has consistently earned superior ratings at the Alabama Bandmasters Association State Music Performance Assessment. She is a member of NAfME, AMEA, ABA, and Sigma Alpha Iota. She has been twice named the Teacher of the Year for Chelsea Middle School, (2005 & 2015) and was the guest conductor of the “Festival Band” at the 2015 University of Montevallo Middle School Honor Band Festival. The ChMS Band Program has two performing groups to earn superior ratings at the Alabama Bandmasters Association State Music Performance Assessment over the past few years. We have students that consistently place at the county, district, and state level honor bands, various collegiate honor bands, and earn superior ratings at the Solo and Ensemble Festival. Our Advanced Band has recently been invited to perform at the University of Alabama Middle School Honor Band Festival in December 2017. We are very excited to showcase our students at this event! As a native of Chelsea, Alabama, Mrs. Rizzo is proud to teach and live in her hometown to continue the legacy that inspired and influenced her. She and Mike, her husband of twenty-four years, are the proud parents of two sons. Matthew is a percussionist at Troy University, and Nathan plays the French horn at Chelsea High School.