Assistant Director of Bands, Associate Professor of Music
(205) 996-5827
Cara Morantz, Ed.D., is Assistant Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She joined the faculty in the fall of 2014. She is part of the instructional team for the Marching Blazers, the Wind Symphony and Symphony Band, and the Blazer Bands. In addition, Dr. Morantz teaches music classes including courses in music education and aural skills.
Prior to her arrival at UAB, Dr. Morantz spent nine years in the public schools of Cobb County, Georgia, where she taught at both the middle school and high school levels. From 2005-2007, she served as assistant director of bands at Lassiter High School. From 2007-2012 she served as assistant director of bands at Cooper Middle School and from 2012-2014 she served as assistant director of bands at Durham Middle School.
Dr. Morantz has continued to play trumpet in community groups at UAB, and while in Georgia, she enjoyed being a member of the Cobb Wind Symphony. Dr. Morantz has also served as guest conductor and clinician at several schools, and at honor band events in the states of Georgia and Alabama.
Dr. Morantz was educated at the University of Miami, where she graduated Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in music education. She completed her master’s degree at the University of Georgia in 2011 and continued on to complete her Doctorate of Education in 2016. Her teaching and research interests include instrumental music education, beginning brass pedagogy, and the effect of singing on instrumental performance.