Longtime Kenmore East band director Phil Aguglia has been named one of several inductees into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame as part of the 2024 class! The announcement was made Wednesday, July 17th during a special press conference.

Aguglia began teaching at Kenmore East High School in 2002. He is part of a district-wide music department that’s been designated as a Best Community for Music Education by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation for 14 straight years. Throughout his career, Aguglia has been involved in dozens of collaborations, and has received more than 30 nominations or awards for excellence in teaching.

Throughout the year, Mr. Aguglia facilitates countless opportunities for his students to perform and enrich Kenmore East and the larger Ken-Ton community through their music. He has organized multiple band trips to New Orleans and regularly facilitates visits and guest artist programs with prominent musicians and composers from across the country. He has also initiated many different collaborations with other high schools in WNY to promote music education and introduce students to new learning opportunities.

Additionally, Christoper Swist was also named an inductee. Swist is a Kenmore East alumni who currently serves as Director of Recording Arts at Trinity College in Hartford. His mother, Carol Jean Swist, is also a Kenmore East Alumni and a member of the Kenmore East Performing Arts Hall of Fame and the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame.