John C. Carmichael was a member of the FSU Marching Chiefs for four years, 1970-1973.
During that time, he was a row leader in his 3rd year and a staff assistant in his 4th year. He was also responsible for the arts and crafts committee which became known as the Glue Crew under his supervision. In 1987, he returned to work with the Marching Chiefs as Dr. Shellahamer’s graduate assistant. He was selected for induction into the FSU Marching Chiefs Alumni Wall of Fame in 2017. His teaching and conducting career spans 44 years leading to his retirement from the University of South Florida in 2018 where he was Director of Bands. At USF, Dr. Carmichael was involved in the commissioning of numerous new compositions for wind band and gave the world premieres of at least four of those works, including one in Carnegie Hall. Prior to USF, he served as director of bands at Furman University and Western Kentucky University. He graduated from Florida State University with a Ph.D. in Music Education and Conducting in 1994. He has served as an officer and board member for the College Band Directors National Association and the National Band Association. The ABA elected Dr. Carmichael to membership in 2001. Dr. Carmichael founded the Florida Wind Band in Tampa in 2007 which he conducted for 11 years. In 2021, Dr. Carmichael founded Pinnacle Winds, his fourth adult wind band, with the mission of becoming a full-time, civilian, professional concert band.