Mr. Seda has been the Director of Bands at Southwest Dekalb High School since 2001. Prior to that he served as Assistant Director of Bands at Chapel Hill Middle School for two years, the primary feeder school to Southwest Dekalb High School, also assisting with the band program at Southwest Dekalb simultaneously. Mr. Seda is a member of the American Bandmasters Association, Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, Minority Band Directors National Association, Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters Fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the Screen Actor’s Guild, International Trumpet Guild, MACE and NAACP. Mr. Seda has been recognized and honored by Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers multiple times. Mr. Seda is a four-time recipient of the Citation of Excellence award from the National Band Association.
While attending Florida A&M University, Mr. Seda was a very active performer, soon earning the principal trumpet chair in the FAMU Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, and the lead trumpet chair in the FAMU Jazz Ensemble. As a member of the world famous ‘Marching 100’ Mr. Seda served as trumpet section leader for two years, as well as being elected business manager, vice-president, and president in consecutive years.
Mr. Seda has performed in Paris, France, The Montreaux Jazz Festival in Montreaux, Switzerland and the North Seas Jazz Festival in The Haag, Holland. He has also performed in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and Jamaica. Television and radio features are also to his credit as CNN displayed his talents in a television documentary on the life of jazz musician Jesse Stone. He has done studio sessions for television and radio commercials, as well as short films and movies. Mr. Seda worked on the 20th Century Fox motion picture DRUMLINE as a music arranger, band organizer, creative consultant, instrumentalist, and actor extra.
Mr. Seda maintains an active performance schedule, appearing in venues throughout the United States. Music has impacted and molded Mr. Seda’s life, and he feels that he should share and expose his knowledge and experiences with his students so they may have the same opportunities. His educational philosophy is to foster a firm understanding and appreciation of music by exposing his students to its many styles, therefore making them competitive and adaptive in any musical situation.
