About Tim

Timothy Loest
Composer, Conductor, Educator
Timothy Loest is a name in music synonymous with creativity, versatility, and accessibility. His compositions and arrangements for young band are performed worldwide and his pedagogical methods and conducting appearances continue to impact performers and audiences at the state and national levels. In 2017, his work Cloud Gate (Reflections of a City) was performed for more than 5,000 spectators at Chicago’s Millennium Park. That same year, he received the Illinois Grade School Music Association’s highest honor – the Cloyd Myers Memorial Award for Excellence in Music Education.
Mr. Loest had his first work published in 1995 and today he is an exclusive writer for The FJH Music Company Inc. He co-authored Measures of Success®: A Comprehensive Musicianship Band Method, and is lead author of “The Beyond Series,” which includes Warm-ups and Beyond, Rhythms and Beyond, and Chorales and Beyond. In 2022, Mr. Loest founded Fanfare Music Press.
Mr. Loest received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Illinois State University and his Master of Music Education degree from Northwestern University. He holds membership in ASCAP, the Illinois Grade School Music Association, and Christian Educators Association International. He is band director at F.E. Peacock Middle School in Itasca, Illinois, and resides in Wheaton, Illinois with his wife Cindy and their two sons.
"Tim is one of the most talented, creative, and conscientious writers of today's music that I know. His priorities in composition are educational, entertaining, and progressive. He never ceases to amaze me with his cleverness, humor, harmonies, sound effects, and student interest. His musical ideas seem endless. Tim's works are entertaining to students and audiences alike."
Paul ToloskoDirector, Retired