Photo courtesy of Capital University
James Swearingen with Capital University students
James Swearingen may be a year past retirement from his post as chairman of music education at Capital University, but he doesn’t seem interested in taking it easy.
Even in retirement, Swearingen has a busy schedule. After a full career of teaching, he still spends much of his time contributing to the music community.
Swearingen received his bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University and his master’s from The Ohio State University. He worked in Big Walnut Local Schools for four years and taught music at every level, from grades five to 12. Swearingen then began teaching band at Grove City High School.
He had not planned to compose music for his students, but he found that the school’s original music was not helping them to improve at the right pace. To bridge the gap, Swearingen wrote some of his own pieces.
“They seemed to like to play the music that I had written for them, so that kind of became a part of who I was as a public school teacher,” he says.
Swearingen became known for his compositions through the continued improvement of the GCHS bands and their many performances.
He was soon contacted by the director of The Ohio State University Marching Band, for which he has now been writing for over 40 years.
And Swearingen doesn’t just work with students. He has also served as director of the Grove City Community Winds for the past 16 years – a role in which he had originally promised to serve only five years. The ensemble started as a small, informal group of musicians, and now plays six or seven concerts per year.
“The whole scope of things, of how many people you’re reaching with your music, is equally gratifying,” he says. “I just always hope that it’s as fun for the participants who are playing the music as it is for the person who has written the music.”
Valerie Mauger is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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