Meet Our Directors

Strong leadership empowers our band students to thrive, with regular masterclasses led by seasoned directors and distinguished guest artists.

Rodney Workman Joe Figliolo

Rodney K. Workman

Director of Bands

Rodney Workman leads the Wind Symphony, Marching Band, Symphonic Winds, 9th Grade Concert Band and Jazz Ensemble II at Asheville High. He also assists with the Symphonic Band and supports all of the middle school bands in Asheville City Schools.

Since he arrived, the AHS band program has doubled in size and continues to earn Superior ratings in marching and concert band. The Marching Cougars now have more than 170 members, and the Wind Symphony performed at the 2024 National Band and Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall and as a featured ensemble at the North Carolina Music Educators Conference.

Before Asheville, he taught at Central Davidson Middle and High Schools, where the grades 6–12 program grew to more than 520 members. Those ensembles earned consistent Superior ratings at District MPA and performed throughout the Southeast, including the Dixie Classic Festivals, the National Adjudicator’s Invitational in Atlanta, the Charleston Music Festival and The President’s Cup National Concert Band Festival in Washington, D.C.

Email: Rodney.Workman@acsgmail.net   Full biography »

Joe Figliolo

Assistant Director of Bands

Inspiring students and fostering the next generation of musicians.

Joe Figliolo conducts the Symphony Band, Concert Band, Symphonic Winds and Jazz Ensemble I at Asheville High, and co-directs the Asheville Marching Cougars.

He works with all 170 of his students to keep the program growing and performing at a high level. His ensembles have earned multiple Superior ratings at MPA, and he guest conducted the Asheville Wind Symphony at the North Carolina Music Educators Conference in November 2025. He is now helping prepare AHS band students for the Percy Grainger Invitational in Chicago in March 2027.

Full biography »