Growing up through Worthington schools’ beginning band programs, Greg Benson found himself unsure of whether he should continue with music or soccer in high school.
Balancing both would be tricky, but he expected not to start on his varsity soccer team until his junior or senior year, meaning he had an opportunity to keep playing his saxophone.
“I loved band, but I wasn’t sure about marching band, and my mother put me in the car and took me to my first rehearsal and said, ‘You got to try it at least once,’” Benson says. “And I got back in that car at the end, and said, ‘This is the greatest experience I’ve ever had. I want to do this forever.’”
Early Career
Benson, now the director of bands at Pickerington High School North, says he quickly identified music as a career choice and ended up earning a bachelor’s degree in music education from Otterbein University in Westerville.
Courtesy of Greg Benson.
Greg Benson
Afterwards, Benson taught as the director of bands at Gallia Academy High School and Middle School for two years before moving on to be the assistant band director at Grove City High School where he’d previously done student teaching. Now, he says he’s found a new home in Pickerington for the past six years.
“It had always been a place I had identified as one of the schools that I’d be very seriously interested in if the position came open, and so I jumped on that opportunity,” Benson says. “I wanted to be in a place where music was valued and very clearly a part of the community culture, and so Pickerington was a no-brainer.”
Time in Pickerington
Benson says he has a lot on his plate as he directs not just the marching band, but also concert bands, jazz ensembles and beginning woodwinds in middle school.
The heavy load hasn’t slowed him down, and he says there’s always a high expectation to demonstrate excellence despite no longer being a competition marching band.
“Our students have been wildly successful in (our) new model and our goal is always to
be the example – be the standard,” Benson says. “We want to show up and say, ‘This is what's possible, and we want to do it because we want to show our best to our audience. We want to give our musical gifts to our audience.’”
The high standards have shown, too. Outside of pumping up audiences at football games and a few band festivals, Pickerington North has a long history of significant regional and national performances.
This Veterans Day, the Pickerington North Marching Band is combining with Pickerington Central at the New York City Veterans Day Parade, an event both bands are already familiar with.
Courtesy of Greg Benson
“We are blessed here that our ensembles have earned those positions in auditions to be able to perform at those national events. We are going to New York, and we like to find ways to give back to our community, so one of the greatest ways is to honor our veterans,” Benson says. “We usually do these larger trips with North and Central combined because that's the whole community getting behind, ‘Look at what my community’s marching bands are doing to represent our community.’”
Benson also took the band to the 2019 Tournament of Roses
Courtesy of Greg Benson
Pickerington North and Central Bands in the 2019 Tournament of Roses Parade.
Parade in Pasadena, California in a combined performance with Pickerington Central, marking the sixth time Pickerington has represented in the parade and is tied for the most appearances by any high school band in the country.
“That is quite an honor, and not one we take lightly. That organization out there,” Benson says, “is one of the finest-run volunteer organizations, and they treat our kids like royalty out there. And so, it’s really just a tremendous experience where you really have a 5 ½-mile parade with no break and a really excited audience.”
Benson says the marching band is returning to the Buckeye Invitational this year on Oct. 14 at Ohio Stadium, which he says is a fun experience for new band members.
“I always love watching the freshmen as we take the field at Ohio State every year because it’s certainly the largest venue they’ve ever performed in,” Benson says. “When they get to finally step on that field, the wide-eyed look is pretty unique to watch, and there’s a little bit of a mix of excitement and a little terror in that because they’re performing in such a large stadium. But then at the end, watching them high-five and fist bump all their friends and just be like, ‘Look at what we did,’ that’s the rewarding part.”
The power of music
Many kids grow up in elementary school mandatory music classes but fall out of it in high school or later. However, for those who stick with it, many recognize there’s something special about music education.
Kyle Buchwalter, the marching band president and north head field commander for Pickerington North, says band is his favorite part of the school day.
Courtesy of Greg Benson
Kyle Buchwalter
“I can go out, and I can express myself through music,” Buchwalter says. “It definitely activates a different part of my brain, which is good to leave one part of my brain for a break – activate the other part and kind of be free in a sense where I can be expressive and kind of use my imagination.”
Buchwalter, who started on the clarinet before switching to the saxophone once he got the basics down, says he’s learned many lessons from band and has been impacted by great instructors who have fostered an ever-growing love for music.
“The goal is to make it through high school and college, and then go out in the world and educate my own students,” Buchwalter says, “and hopefully instill a love of music in them that I have in my life.”
Both Benson and Buchwalter say there are specific skills learned from band, such as camaraderie, compassion and teamwork, and it can have a powerful impact when everyone is on the same page.
“We’re one team, and there’s 150 of us, and there’s no bench,” Buchwalter says. “Making everyone be together is a task, and it’s really fun and it’s difficult and challenging. (The) atmosphere and how electric it is when that band plays its first note and it hits you right in the face, it’s an amazing feeling.”
Nathan Mader is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
