Mrs. Angela Dowd has been the orchestra director at Hamburg High School since 2004 and developed the program herself. She believed that it was an “exciting ride to start, develop and expand a program.” In 1997 Mrs. Dowd began her teaching career in the East Penn School District. A year later she moved closer to Lebanon School District and there she taught Orchestra, the 3rd-12th grade for six years. Her favorite thing about being a teacher is getting to know her students over the span of ten years, and she loves watching a student who barely knows an instrument to playing full pages of music in key and tempo. 

      Her inspiration to become a music teacher came from her elementary school teacher, Mrs. Linda Lee, who was her choir teacher. She pulled Mrs. Dowd out of class and asked if she would like to play an instrument. “She set me up with a school cello. It changed my whole life!”

     Mrs. Dowd attended Millersville University for her undergraduate degree and received her master’s degree through many classes at Lebanon Valley College, the University of the Arts at Villanova, and several other colleges. She chooses teaching because she has always loved music, “from singing hymns in church to performing with various choral and instrumental groups.” Mrs. Dowd wanted to find a way to share this passion with others, and the best way for her to do that was through teaching. 

     Mrs. Dowd lives in Hamburg with her husband, her dog, Roscoe, and her four cats: Mama, Squeakers, Gelly, and Markey. Her two daughters, Maddie and Hanna, have both graduated college and live on their own. Mrs. Dowd is very close with her extended family and has taken a cruise with 23 of her husband’s relatives.