Ms. Krista Pezold, Director

Krista Pezold is in her fourth year as the Director of Bands at East Cobb Middle School. In 2004, she moved to the Atlanta area from Fairfax County, Virginia, to be closer to family. In Fairfax, she was the Assistant High School Band Director at Robinson Secondary School from 1998-2004, where she taught concert bands, music theory, jazz band, marching band, and trombone choir. Prior to Robinson, she was the band director for three elementary schools during the 1997-1998 school year.

In 1987, Ms. Pezold obtained a bachelor’s degree in Decision Sciences (computers and statistics), and after working in that career field for six years, she realized that she missed music too much. She left her job and returned to George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, where she completed her bachelor’s degree in music education in 1997 and her master’s in instrumental conducting in 2003.

Ms. Pezold performs regularly with the Cobb Wind Symphony and is a freelance trombonist in the Atlanta area. She is also a brass clinician for local middle and high school band programs.

Ms. Pezold is a member of the Music Educators National Conference, the Georgia Music Educators Association, and the International Trombone Association.

Ms. Pezold has 2 permanent cats and 2 visitor cats (her sister, Seana, moved in temporarily and is on her way to SCAD). In her “spare time,” Ms. Pezold loves to listen to jazz, read, swim, dine out, take road trips, help out with rescued horses, work on her new house, and practice her trombone.

Mrs. Chrissy Holbrook, Assistant Director

Chrissy Holbrook is excited to be returning for her second year as the Assistant Band Director at East Cobb Middle School. In addition to assisting with the bands, she also teaches two General Music classes. Prior to arriving at ECMS, Mrs. Holbrook taught Music and Band at Mill Springs Academy, Music at St. Catherine of Siena School, Band at Hightower Trail Middle School, and Band and Orchestra in the St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota. This is Mrs. Holbrook’s twelfth year of teaching in the schools. She also served for three years as the Assistant Director and as a teacher for Peachtree Music Together, an early childhood music program for parents and their children. Mrs. Holbrook has been a flute instructor/clinician for over twenty years.

Mrs. Holbrook holds the Specialist in Music Education (EdS) from University of Georgia, the Master of Instrumental Music (MM) from Arizona State University, and the Bachelor of Music Education from Texas Christian University. Mrs. Holbrook belongs to the following professional organizations: Georgia Music Educators Association, Music Educators National Conference, and the Suzuki Association of America. Mrs. Holbrook often serves as a flute clinician and adjudicator for metro-Atlanta high schools. Recently, in the spring of 2007, Mrs. Holbrook’s study titled Music and Academic Success: A Review, was published in the Georgia Music News. In 2006, Mrs. Holbrook presented a workshop entitled Draw Me a Song at the Georgia Independent Schools Association Fall Conference with a former colleague.

Mrs. Holbrook lives in Marietta with her husband, Perry, Orchestra Director at Walton High School, and her daughter, Bailey who attends Timber Ridge Elementary School. In her “free” time, Mrs. Holbrook likes to run, hike, read, cook, eat, and spend time with her family