Originally from Illinois, Cathi Leibinger moved to Miami in 1989 to begin her teaching career with Miami-Dade Public Schools. In 2000, she moved to Ransom Everglades School, an independent school in Coconut Grove, FL. A Past President of the Florida Bandmasters Association, she also served multiple terms as District Secretary and District Chair, Junior High/Middle School Representative to the Executive Board in 2002-2004, and President in 2018-2020. She currently serves as Interim Arts Chair/Middle School Band Director at Ransom Everglades School.
Ms. Leibinger earned a B.M.E. from Millikin University in Decatur, IL an M.S. in Music Education from the American Band College/Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, and a Masters degree in Nonprofit Management from the University of Central Florida. She was a member of the American Band College graduate staff and the Western International Band Clinic Staff in Seattle, Washington from 2000 to 2018. She serves as a member of the Advisory Board for the Band Directors Group on Facebook, a professional learning group of over 31,000 members from all over the world. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Music Mentor Network, a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide student musicians equal access to highly trained music mentors in order to reach their full musical potential.
Ms. Leibinger’s students have consistently earned superior ratings at Solo, Small Ensemble, Concert Band, and Jazz Band Music Performance Assessments. Her students have worked with or performed with the Dallas Brass, the Boston Brass, soloists Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan (tuba), Brian Neal (trumpet), conductor Colonel Arnald D. Gabriel (US Air Force, retired Conductor Emeritus) and have premiered commissioned works by Robert Longfield and Brian Balmages. She serves as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the state and is a member of FBA, FMEA and NAfME. She is a member of both the Broward Symphonic Band and the Greater Miami Symphonic Band on horn.