Michael Harbaugh

Michael Harbaugh is instructor of Orchestra at the Beloit Jr.-Sr. High School and Orchestra and Instrumental Music at the Beloit Elementary School since 1977.  Michael graduated from Hutchinson High School in 1973 and Fort Hays State University in 1977.  Michael studied viola with KMEA Hall of Fame Member Ed Moyers and orchestra with KMEA Hall of Fame Member Lyle Dilley.  Mr. Harbaugh has taught for 27 years in the Beloit Public Schools.  Mr. Harbaugh is also the conductor of the Beloit Community Orchestra, an organization he helped establish in 1980.

               Mr. Harbaugh has served on the executive board of the Kansas chapter of the American String Teacher's Association with the National School Orchestra Association since 1992, chairman of the KASTA Jr. High State Orchestra, secretary for the Western Kansas Orchestra Festival Association, an active member of the board and staging director of the Beloit Community Concert Association.  He has served as clinician and conductor for the Salina “Strings and Things”, KSU “String Fling”, and Junior Division Concert Orchestra for the Midwestern Music Camp at the University of Kansas, and KMEA Southeast District Mass Orchestra.  Mr. Harbaugh, a violist, has been an active member of the Hays Symphony Orchestra since 1973.

               Mr. Harbaugh was selected as “Teacher of the Year” for the Beloit Public Schools USD 273 1999 and received the “Certificate of Merit Award” from the Kansas Chapter of ASTA with NSOA on February 25, 2000. Mr. Harbaugh was recognized as the 2001-2002 KMEA Northwest District “Outstanding High School Music Educator” at the District Mini-Convention at Fort Hays State University on December 8, 2001. 

               The Beloit High School Orchestra was selected to perform at the Kansas Music Educator’s In-Service Workshops on February 26, 2005.  The Orchestra enjoyed the opportunity to play in the Wichita Century II Concert Hall.  Selection to perform at KMEA is the highest honor for a Large Performing Group in Kansas.

               Mr. Harbaugh and his wife, DeeAnn, have two children, Alex, age 24 and Alison, age 20.  Alex, a graduate of FHSU and graduate student at KU enjoys the electric guitar, violin, tuba, is a  Acoustical Architecture student.  Alison, a junior at Kansas Wesleyan University participates in Salina Symphony and the KWU Orchestra.  DeeAnn is an insurance clerk at the Beloit Medical Center, serves as the Clerk of Session and Associate Choir Director at the Presbyterian Church, and is active in the Beloit Community Orchestra and Allegro Music Club.

               Beloit, county seat of Mitchell County, is located in the Solomon River Valley in the north central area of Kansas. It is also in the center of the Smoky Hills in the land of the Kansas Post Rock. It is located on State Highways 24, 14 and 9. Beloit is 50 minutes from Interstate 70 and 30 minutes from U.S. Highway 81.  The population of the City of Beloit is listed at 4,033 and the population of Mitchell County is listed as 7,160.  There are 1,358 families in Beloit and 2,086 households.  Beloit is the home of the North Central Kansas Technical College and the Beloit Juvenile Correctional Facility.

               String instrument playing has been a long time integral part of the Beloit Community.  Cleo Riley taught orchestra in the Beloit Public Schools from 1946 until his retirement in 1977.  He was also the first conductor of the Beloit Community Orchestra. 

               The Beloit Community Orchestra has 73 members from North Central Kansas who rehearse on the first and third Sunday of each month.  Impetus for the Orchestra came from the Post Rock University, a free adult education program operated in the Beloit area, and Helen Lukens Hodler.  The Orchestra gave its first performance in March 1981.