Bowen Boyack of KBN: Tell me about yourself and what inspired you to get this job as a director at Marysville.
Jamie Minneman: I am in my 20th year of teaching. I love being a band director, and my first teaching job back in 1998 was in Axtell, KS just down the road from Marysville. When my husband wanted to become an administrator, and both of those positions happened to be open in Marysville, we decided to move back to this beautiful area of the state. We have 2 children, McKenna and Kendall, and we love to go fishing!
BB: Tell me about the band program here at MHS.
JM: Marysville has a great tradition of band and HUGE support from the community and Marshall County Arts Cooperative. Long time great band director, Bud Schutte lives in town and has been a great resource for me. I was able to get 5th grade band back in the curriculum this year, so we are now a 5-12 program; and I see all of those kids every day. I also teach the students from our 2 parochial schools in town that feed into Marysville High School. We field a full marching band, concert band, and numerous solos and ensembles at all levels.
BB: What inspired your musical selections this year for marching band?
JM: Each year in the spring, I let the returning high school students have some input as to what they would like to play for next year's show. Last spring they voted on Katy Perry. It was fun music, and easy to learn.
BB: What competitions did you go to this marching season and what ratings/scores did you get?
JM: We were able to go to a marching band festival at Holton this year, where we received Superior ratings. We are looking forward to returning to that festival next year and possibly expanding to one more.
BB: Tell me about the upcoming trips you will be taking.
JM: We are currently preparing to travel to San Antonio, TX March 28-31 to compete in the Heritage Festival. We are excited to be traveling with the MHS Choir for the first time, and we will be visiting the Alamo, the Riverwalk, enjoying Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Sea World.
BB: What concert band repertoire are your bands playing this year? When are your upcoming performances?
JM: We will be performing An American Elegy by Frank Ticheli and Darklands March by Randall Standridge for this festival. Our spring concert will be held May 1.
BB: Looking forward to 2019, any plans you would be willing to share?
JM: We are losing some outstanding seniors this year, including 2 All State participants, but we have a large group of juniors that will be stepping up to fill those shoes. I'm excited we will be working on a Greatest Showman show in the fall!
Thank you, Jamie. Best of luck to you and the MHS bands in your future.
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