Deborah (Sheldon) Confredo, a 42-year veteran music educator, is Professor of Music Education and Director of the Online MM in Music Education at Temple University (Philadelphia, PA). She is founder of Temple’s Night Owls Campus/Community Band which launched Temple's community music performance outreach program and is past conductor of the Philadelphia All-City High School Band.

Confredo is President-Elect of the National Association for Music Education, chairs the NAfME Music Teacher Profession Initiative, and serves on the higher education sub-committee of the NAfME Repertory Diversity Task Force. Although a professor for Temple University, Dr. Confredo resides in Louisiana where she is an active member of the Louisiana Music Educators Association in her work on the LMEA Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the Professional Development Committee, the Louisiana Music Adjudicators Association, and as contributor to the LMEA 12-for-12 webinar series. She has co-authored the texts The Complete Woodwind Instructor: A Guidebook for the Music Educator and Lessons in Performance (FJH), and is editor of Superior Bands in Sixteen Weeks, and Chorales and Rhythmic Etudes for Superior Bands. Confredo is lead author for the FJH publication Measures of Success®, a multi-level band method for beginning and intermediate instrumentalists. She developed and is featured in the Measures of Success® Video Practice Buddy Series, an online video tutorial program for developing band musicians. Her numerous articles are published in journals such as the Journal for Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education (CRME), Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Journal for Music Teacher Education, Journal of Music Therapy, Music Educators Journal, Journal of Band Research, The Instrumentalist, and Contributions to Music Education, as well as in several state music education journals. She has been an editorial board member on several professional journals and currently serves as editorial board member for the Journal of Band Research. She is in demand as conductor, clinician, adjudicator, speaker, and lecturer. Tau Beta Sigma, the Illinois Music Educators Association, and the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association have honored her for distinguished service to music education. Mansfield University (PA) has recognized her as a distinguished alumnus. She is recipient of the Pennsylvania State University College of Arts and Architecture Distinguished Alumni Award, the Florida State University Faculty Citation for Graduate Alumni Award, and the Temple University Outstanding Faculty Service Award. In Louisiana, Confredo continues to perform as a saxophonist with the Lafayette Concert Band and the Acadian Wind Symphony. She also performs and records with her bassist/guitarist husband, Ralph, in their music studio, Electric Étoufée-dyland. In her spare time, she and Ralph enjoy dancing to Zydeco and Cajun music which they do as often as possible.