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| Marshall Kimball surrounds himself with talented musicians Photo: Bill Bretzger / Marietta Times |
Yet in all the confusion that marks the start of his day, Marshall Kimball, BMUS '72, MM '75, doesn't miss a beat as he shares with a visitor the accomplishments of Marietta City Schools' instrumental music program and its Wall of Sound marching ban d.
Kimball, 48, has taken the band to ninth- and 11th-place finishes at the Bands of America Grand Nationals, the only national contest for high school marching bands. The Wall of Sound skipped that competition last year in favor of a 30-hour bus ride to Miami, where the 185-member band marched in the nationally televised Orange Bowl Parade on New Year's Eve night.
Kimball teaches instrumental music to sixth- through 12th-graders, directs the band and chairs the music department for Mariet ta schools, which he joined in 1975.
Kimball says 10 percent of his seniors pursue careers in music, most as educators. While that's considered a pretty high percentage, he hopes 100 percent of his students take away the discipline, work ethic and appreciation for the arts that music instruction can impart.
"The most important thing to me is that they become good music consumers and supporters of the fine arts," he says.
Kimball's efforts haven't gone unnoticed in Marietta, where the Wall of Sound is a sought-after attraction and source of much civic pride. He won the 1998 Citizen of the Year Award from the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce to add to other honors he's collected.
He remains active at Ohio University as well, serving on the School of Music's Society of Alumni and Friends and its Southeastern Ohio Music Education Task Force. He also hosts student teachers from OU.
Kimball, who played percussion with the Marching 110 as an undergraduate, counts Professors James Stewart and Richard Wetzel and Associate Professor Margene Stewart as mentors, colleagues and friends.
--Mary Alice Casey
