Mallory Thompson, director of bands at Northwestern University’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, will retire at the end of the 2023-24 academic year following a 28-year teaching and conducting career at Northwestern. In 1996, Thompson made history as the first woman to be named to this prestigious position and only the third person to hold the title of director of bands at Northwestern. Throughout her tenure, Thompson directed the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Northwestern’s most selective wind ensemble.