INTERVIEW: Matthew Bradford, Director of Bands at De Soto High School

Bowen Boyack of KBN: Tell me about yourself and what inspired you to get this job as a Band Director at De Soto. 

Matthew Bradford: I am in my 23rd year of teaching.  This summer I will have been married 30 years.  I have two grown children and three foster kids at this time.  I am a percussionist and still love to perform.  I really wasn’t looking for a new job when it happened but, when I heard about the job at De Soto High School I was interested due to the past success and reputation of the band program.

BB: Tell me a little bit about the Band Program here at DHS. 

MB: We currently have around 170 students in our band program.  Our program has a marching band, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Color Guard, Percussion Ensemble, We have many students who participate in the honor band and symphonies in our area and regional and state solo festivals. 

BB: What inspired your musical selections this year for marching band? 

MB: We wanted to move to the next level and decided to go with music written for marching band instead of “pop tunes” made to fit a certain theme.  After looking for a while we decided to go with music written by Gary P. Gilroy.  We loved the power and of the music and thought it fit our current students well.

BB: What competitions did you go to this marching season and what ratings/scores did you get? 

MB: Central States Marching Festival at K-State Univ., Baker Marching Festival and the Spring Hill Marching Festival. We got a I rating at each of those festivals.

BB: Tell me about the upcoming trips you will be taking within the next 3-4 years. 

MB: This summer I will be taking a few students to Europe with the Kansas Ambassadors of Music.  Next Spring the DHS Band will be traveling to Florida for Disney World and Universal Studios.

BB: What concert band repertoire are your bands playing this year? When are your upcoming performances? 

MB: We have many pieces we are working on at this time.  A few we are excited about are “Open Space” by Balmages, and “Academic Festival Overture” by Johannes Brahms that we will be performing with the Lawrence Free State Orchestra. Our performances this spring are:  Mid-Winter Band Concert on Feb. 11, Joint concert with the Lawrence Free State Orchestra on March 4 and our spring band concert on April 24.

BB: Looking forward to 2019, any plans for your band that you would be willing to share? 

MB: One big change will be the separation of our freshman during marching band season into a separate band in the fall.  This should help ease our new students into our active program and allow our marching band to perform at a higher level.

Thank you, Matt. Best of luck to you and your band in the coming years.