High School Newsletter - February 2010 - Music for All

In a testament to the power of music
education and the teachers who devote
so much to their music students, it
was a music teacher who inspired the
formation of Bands of America and,
ultimately, Music for All as it is today.
Looking back on his success as a music
education major and graduate student, as
music director of The Cavaliers and many
other drum corps and as the founder
and CEO of McCormick’s Enterprises,
a successful music products business,
Larry McCormick knew it all started in a
practice room many years earlier. Without
his high school percussion teacher,
the late Frank Arsenault, Larry said
in 1975, “I would have dropped out of
school in my junior year.” It was through
Mr. Arsenault’s mentorship that Larry
finished school and became a respected
music educator himself.
So, in a sweltering Chicago July of
1975, Larry McCormick had an idea that
wouldn’t let go of him. He wanted to find
a way to help kids positively change their
lives through experiences in band and
music – just as he had been able to do.
He wanted to create a true national high
school marching band championship.
Together, Larry and the organization’s
first executive director, Gary Beckner,
fostered the development of a small staff,
board of advisors and sponsors to create
Marching Bands of America. Soon, the
group was enduring another hot summer
– but this time it was at the University
of Wisconsin-Whitewater, for the “First
Annual National High School Marching
Band Championship 1976.”
While the nation celebrated its
bicentennial, Marching Bands of America
(MBA) celebrated its inception. On
the championship program cover, an
enthusiastic-looking majorette with
bouncy blonde curls and a fuzzy red,
white and blue shako led the way. The
description of the national championship
echoed the patriotic theme:
“The foundation of our American
society is built upon the concepts that
dedication, initiative, hard work, self
sacrifice, and a team effort are the major
Celebrating 35
years of positively
life-changing
experiences by Beth DeHoff
ingredients for success. The rewards of
this MBA event are consistent with this
American ideal, and we hope that every
student participating will experience the
inner satisfaction that comes from the
pursuit of excellence.”
Today, that organization has evolved
from MBA to BOA to MFA. Our reach
has extended beyond marching band
to concert band, orchestra, jazz band,
percussion and more. Nevertheless, that
statement from 1976 is very similar to
the mission of Music for All today: “to
create, provide and expand positively lifechanging
experiences through music for
all.”
Music for All, and music education in
general, has come a long way in the last
35 years. Bands of America and Orchestra
America are now programs of Music
for All. What began as an organization
to serve music education through
marching band programs is now a leader
in opportunities for concert bands,
orchestras, percussion ensembles and jazz
musicians – serving middle school as well
as high school students.
Over these 35 years, Music for All’s
Bands of America has led the marching
pageantry movement to become more
sophisticated, artistic and challenging.
The expense of venues and producing
programs at this level has grown
exponentially, requiring Music for All to
seek donations of all kinds to continue
serving kids and their families. Music for
All has grown and adapted along with
these changes. Yet for this organization,
one thing has never changed: our focus on
providing kids with a unique, memorable,
life-changing experience.
1976 – MBA’s Summer Workshop/
Festival debuts in Whitewater,
Wisconsin
1978 – Bands of America Regional
Championships begin, with events
in Jackson, Mississippi and at James
Madison University, Virginia
1980 – First Fall Grand National
Championships at the Gator Bowl in
Jacksonville, FL - Tate High School of
Gonzalez, Florida is Champion
Dan Landbo was a member of the J.B.
Conant High School Cougar Band,
the winner of the 1980 Marching
Bands of America Summer National
Championship. Today, he remembers
saving a little bit of the field turf from
Whitewater’s field for himself – a
clump of grass to remind him of the
championship. He says it was a few years
later when he understood that he took
away something much more important.
“It wasn’t about a trophy or a plaque on
the wall,” Dan says now. “It wasn’t about a
clump of starting line grass stashed away
in a box of photos. It was about what a
group of young people can do with focus,
purpose, respect for others and love for
what they are doing.”
1984 MBA becomes Bands of America,
a 501(c)(3) educational organization.
Scott McCormick becomes executive
director.
1984 Grand Nationals is held for the
first time in the then-Hoosier Dome in
Indianapolis, later known as the RCA
Dome. The RCA Dome was home to
Grand Nationals every subsequent year
but two until the move into the new
Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008.
1990-91 Summer Workshop/Festival
expands to include concert and
jazz band and the World Percussion
Symposium
At the 1986 BOA Summer Workshop/
Festival, Mark Akimine of Kaimuki,
Hawaii, was one of the final two
students in the drum major march-off,
an annual event that still occurs at the
Summer Symposium. It was the second
year he attended the camp. “The most
important thing about the camp was
the incredible amount of energy that
flowed between us; you become so close
to each other during the week,” he said
then. “When I first came to camp two
years ago, I was incredibly shy. The Bands
of America camp changed my whole
outlook on everything. I’m a much more
positive person now. Without this camp
experience, I would have gone through
life always sitting in the back of the
room.” Though that statement was made
24 years ago, it still rings true for the
Summer Symposium campers of today.
1992 National Concert Band Festival
and Honor Band of America debuts;
Summer Band Symposium moves to
Illinois State University
www.musicforall.org • 2