Marion County band students earn 'Superior Ratings' at Region 10 Band Festival

Apr. 1—FAIRMONT — Band students in Marion County recently set new records for excellence.

The sixth through eighth grade band from Rivesville Elementary/Middle School, the West Fairmont sixth grade band and its combined seventh and eighth grade band, along with the Fairmont Senior High Polar Bear Band received superior ratings at the WVSSAC Region 10 Band Festival held March 27-28 at Bridgeport High and Bridgeport Middle schools. Since 2008, the bands in the Fairmont Senior attendance area have earned 18 superior ratings.

"This is the first time in the history of Marion County that all four performing ensembles, or four bands in the Fairmont Senior [High] attendance area have gotten straight ones or superior ratings at band festival," said Josh Tharp, director of bands at Rivesville Elementary/Middle School and 6th grade band at West Fairmont Middle School.

In Tharp's case, this year's win is a repeat performance as his band students from both schools earned the same achievement in 2023. Now in his fourth year at both schools, Tharp gives all of the credit to the students for putting in the work and hours of practice at home to learn the music they performed at the festival.

However, he also believes a curriculum change he made when he came on board plays a role in his students' success.

"The band book that we use focuses more on foundations and fundamentals, music reading, music literacy, music reading," Tharp said.

He said his students have progressed to a point that they can now be handed a sheet of music and play it for the first time with a decent level of proficiency.

"Today, our sixth grade band played 'Star Wars' for the fun of it and they didn't do bad on it. They really didn't," Tharp said.

Luke Mazure, West Virginia University Music Education major and a teacher intern this semester in Tharp's classes, agreed.

"I mean, for our first read and beginning band and no practice, it was just 'wow.' OK. It sounds like Star Wars," Mazure said.

Mazure said interning with Tharp has been a valuable experience as it has allowed him the opportunity to learn aspects of being a band director that simply are not taught in a textbook or a lecture. For example, getting ready for a band festival a day before heading into spring break can be hard for middle school students to remain focused.

"The entire week leading up, you know, you're starting to wonder, 'Is this really going to turn out the way that I wanted to?' And then you know, something clicks, like the five minutes before you play for the judges, and everything just kind of falls into place a lot of time," Mazure said.

He said success such as receiving superior ratings at band festival make him look forward to teaching music.

"And it's like, yeah, this is definitely something I want to stick with because the feeling right after you're done it makes up for the entire week beforehand, you know," Mazure said.

Rivesville band students and West Fairmont's sixth grade band played "Entrance of the Shogun" by Douglas Wagner and "Shadow Fireball" by Randall Standridge.

Fairmont Senior Band Director John Schneider also led the Polar Bear Band to superior ratings at the band festival. His students performed "Exaltation" by James Swearingen and "Beyond the Higher Skies" by Robert Sheldon.

Schneider said he enjoys working with Tharp and congratulates his students on their hard work.

"It's great to work with someone who's so passionate about what they do and so I get to see the results of his hard work and his dedication and passion," Schneider said. "He is great to have someone like that, you know, working our feeder program, he does a really great job.

"He really does produce very fine musicians, and it makes my job easier and more fun. So I really I love having him."

Marion County School Superintendent Donna Heston praised both Schneider and Tharp for their hard work at the two schools.

"We cannot say enough about the hours of time, energy, and work that goes into the cultivation of our students' talents in the fine arts. To go up against bands from the region and earn these ratings is a strong testament to the quality of our teachers and the growing interest of our students in the arts and succeeding in the arts," Heston said.

Heston said Tharp also does a great job working with teacher interns, as well as engaging and motivating students to success.

"He mentors aspiring music educators and maintains connections with those in higher education and the musical field to expose his students to quality programming and experiences through his teaching," Heston said.

Mazure echoed Heston's sentiment about motivation. He said Tharp's students strive to improve.

"A lot of bands want to sit down and be good, but they sit down and try to be better," Mazure said. "Like when you give them feedback, they really try to take it and use it instead of just letting it go in one ear and out the other."

Reach Eric Cravey at 304-367-2523.