About. |
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The Fitch Band Program includes:
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Our Goal"To promote and preserve the military precision style of performance in its marching band and to continue to encourage the superior performance of traditional march music from band literature."
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Under the Direction of
Wesley S. O’Connor has been teaching in Ohio public schools since 1998. He has served as the Director of Bands at Austintown Fitch High School since 2004 where he conducts the Symphonic, Concert, Freshman, Jazz Ensemble 1, Jazz Ensemble 2, and Marching Bands. He also teaches 3rd and 4th Grade General Music at the Intermediate school, and has taught Music History and History of Rock and Roll classes at the High School. He is the sixth director in the 93 year history of the Austintown Fitch Band.
Mr. O’Connor previously served six years as Assistant Band Director in the Boardman Local School District. Prior to that, he served as an Assistant on the staff of the Youngstown State University Marching Pride. Mr. O’Connor holds Bachelor’s degrees in Tuba Performance and Music Education from Youngstown State University and a Master’s degree in Tuba Performance from Kansas State University. While at Kansas State, he was the resident tubist with the KSU Faculty Brass Quintet, founded the KSU Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble, and has appeared as a soloist with the KSU Percussion Ensemble, KSU Concert Band Clinic, KSU Great Lakes Music Camp, and performed with the Midwestern All-Star Tuba Ensemble. He was the principal tubist with the W.D. Packard Concert Band for 12 years and twice featured as a soloist. He has also appeared as a tuba soloist with the Youngstown Community Band and the Mercer Community Band. Currently he is the tubist with the Warren Brass Quintet, the Youngstown Area Community Concert Band, and the W.D. Packard Concert Band. He also conducts Tuba Christmas in the Mahoning Valley and plays keyboards in The House Band. The House Band is a commercial rock band that regularly performs in the region. They opened for national acts such as Eddie Money, Kansas, 38 Special, Grand Funk Railroad, Michael Stanley, Donnie Iris, Average White Band, David Lee Roth, and Kool and the Gang. They twice performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and recorded three albums of original music. Mr. O’Connor is a member of Ohio Music Educators Association and in 2009 presented a clinic entitled “Taking Over for the Icon” at the OMEA Professional Development Conference in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. O’Connor currently lives in Girard, Ohio with his wife Erica. |
Jeremy McClaine has taught at Austintown Local Schools since fall 2015, and has been the Director of Bands at Austintown Middle School since fall 2016. He also serves as the Assistant Director for the Fitch Band and Fitch Choir programs. Jeremy holds a Master of Music Degree from Duquesne University’s Mary Pappert School of Music (2014) and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2011) where he graduated Cum Laude. Jeremy’s professional playing has included performances with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Johnstown Symphony Orchestra as well as numerous groups throughout Western Pennsylvania the Greater Pittsburgh Area.
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Austintown Fitch Band Members
The Austintown Fitch Band is comprised of 140 students for the 2019-2020 school year.
OFFICERSDRUM MAJORS:
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SECTION LEADERSFLUTE:
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Our Rich History, Established in 1931
The Austintown Fitch Band was established in 1931 under the direction of Kenneth Evans. Evans transitioned what had been a school orchestra, which had been under the direction of Issac Proser, into the band as we know it today. He developed the first marching unit, and they wore red uniforms with blue caps and capes. Evans remained at his post until 1942 when he resigned and was replaced by A. Glenn Snell, a graduate of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Snell and his wife Mildred moved to Austintown bringing with them their young son Lawrence “Larry” Snell. As Mr. Snell made efforts to increase the band’s membership, its activities were restricted due to the country being at war. The band played at numerous patriotic celebrations and for the boys who were leaving to join the armed forces and fight in World War II. Many boys from Fitch High School left school to fight for the American cause, so many times the band played for band members themselves who were leaving for duties overseas. Richard Hawley, who was a first trumpeter with the band in 1942, was a band member killed in action while on duty in the United States Navy.
The band began their well-known fundraising efforts as far back as 1942 when they collected and sold waste paper. Their parents furnished pick-up trucks and labor. Admission to a concert was a stack of newspapers or a magazine. Eleven tons of paper was collected at one concert! By 1944 the band members and their parents had raised $2,000 which was just what was needed to completely outfit the band in navy blue and red coats, trousers, caps and plumes. The 1944 design is not far removed from the distinct uniforms the band wears today.
In 1948 Donald “Squire” Hurrelbrink, director of the National Championship V.F.W. Boys Band of Girard and Warren, joined Glenn Snell to increase the size and quality of the band. Hurrelbrink had also graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. While Glenn Snell focused on the concert bands, Hurrelbrink took on the marching band. In 1949 Glenn Snell was promoted and appointed Principal of Austintown’s First Elementary School, Woodside. Hurrelbrink took on the responsibility of the growing band program. During this time, several band members graduated and we accepted into the Ohio State Marching Band and six band members played in the Army and Navy bands during and after World War II. Hurrelbrink directed the band until his retirement in 1971. During his years, a female Color Guard and a Flag Line who proudly carried traditional flags of the American Revolutionary times were added. The Flag Codes of the United States were followed to a "T", and members shined their brass belt buckles prior to each performance. During that time, the band was recognized as a superior Concert Band, a legacy that has endured throughout the years.
Lawrence “Larry” Snell was no stranger to the Fitch Band. He grew up a member of both the Fitch Band and Hurrelbrink’s military band, and he was selected by the Austintown Board of Education to continue the rich traditions and legacies his father began to institute years earlier. For eight years prior to becoming the director of Fitch Band, he served as North Jackson’s Band Director. From 1971 until his retirement in 2004, Larry Snell made his mark and impression in Ohio Music Education. He continued to refine the military style and traditions of the band at a time when it was popular to become a “show” band or a “corps” style band. He turned “The Stars and Stripes Forever” into the calling card of the Fitch Band, ending each football show with our National March. The uniforms of both his father and his band director were tweaked but not wholly changed. A rifle line was added to the flags and Color Guard, and the notoriety of the band grew from his efforts.
In 2004, Larry Snell retired handing the reins of his band to one of his students, Wesley O’Connor. While O’Connor graduated from nearby Chaney High School, he had taken private lessons from Larry Snell. O’Connor is a graduate of the Dana School of Music and holds a Masters Degree from Kansas State University. He has embraced the traditions and rich history of Fitch Band as one of high schools remaining “military bands.” Replacement of uniforms over a decade old has begun with a nod to the past with navy blue hats, but in the same military style. Since 2005, "Tradition with Innovation" has become the theme of the O’Connor Fitch Bands. From 2012 to 2016, he had the assistance of Austintown Middle School Band Director Marc Pupino, also a graduate of Dana School of Music, teaching and planting the seeds for future Fitch Band members in the Austintown Intermediate and Middle Schools. With 22 years as a band director, Pupino served Austintown musicians for 9 of those years. Pupino has since transitioned to a role as an Austintown School District Principal, and O'Connor is currently assisted by Jeremy McClaine, the Director of Bands at Austintown Middle School and Assistant Director for the Fitch Band. McClaine has a Masters Degree from Duquesne University and a Bachelors Degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. McClaine joined the Austintown Music Department in 2014 as a paraprofessional with the 5th Grade Band Program. In 2015, he began teaching full time as the 5th Grade Band Director and general music teacher, and in 2016, he transitioned to Director of Bands at Austintown Middle School. McClaine has initiated innovative curriculum for the recruitment of 5th grade students into the music ensembles and embraces the high standards and expectations of the Fitch Band.
In 2017, the 85th edition of the Fitch Marching Band saw the debut of new uniforms as the Band led the Main Street Parade at Walt Disney World, Florida for Presidents’ Day. In April 2018, the Band was featured in our Nation’s Capital for the National Cherry Blossom Parade.
The band began their well-known fundraising efforts as far back as 1942 when they collected and sold waste paper. Their parents furnished pick-up trucks and labor. Admission to a concert was a stack of newspapers or a magazine. Eleven tons of paper was collected at one concert! By 1944 the band members and their parents had raised $2,000 which was just what was needed to completely outfit the band in navy blue and red coats, trousers, caps and plumes. The 1944 design is not far removed from the distinct uniforms the band wears today.
In 1948 Donald “Squire” Hurrelbrink, director of the National Championship V.F.W. Boys Band of Girard and Warren, joined Glenn Snell to increase the size and quality of the band. Hurrelbrink had also graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. While Glenn Snell focused on the concert bands, Hurrelbrink took on the marching band. In 1949 Glenn Snell was promoted and appointed Principal of Austintown’s First Elementary School, Woodside. Hurrelbrink took on the responsibility of the growing band program. During this time, several band members graduated and we accepted into the Ohio State Marching Band and six band members played in the Army and Navy bands during and after World War II. Hurrelbrink directed the band until his retirement in 1971. During his years, a female Color Guard and a Flag Line who proudly carried traditional flags of the American Revolutionary times were added. The Flag Codes of the United States were followed to a "T", and members shined their brass belt buckles prior to each performance. During that time, the band was recognized as a superior Concert Band, a legacy that has endured throughout the years.
Lawrence “Larry” Snell was no stranger to the Fitch Band. He grew up a member of both the Fitch Band and Hurrelbrink’s military band, and he was selected by the Austintown Board of Education to continue the rich traditions and legacies his father began to institute years earlier. For eight years prior to becoming the director of Fitch Band, he served as North Jackson’s Band Director. From 1971 until his retirement in 2004, Larry Snell made his mark and impression in Ohio Music Education. He continued to refine the military style and traditions of the band at a time when it was popular to become a “show” band or a “corps” style band. He turned “The Stars and Stripes Forever” into the calling card of the Fitch Band, ending each football show with our National March. The uniforms of both his father and his band director were tweaked but not wholly changed. A rifle line was added to the flags and Color Guard, and the notoriety of the band grew from his efforts.
In 2004, Larry Snell retired handing the reins of his band to one of his students, Wesley O’Connor. While O’Connor graduated from nearby Chaney High School, he had taken private lessons from Larry Snell. O’Connor is a graduate of the Dana School of Music and holds a Masters Degree from Kansas State University. He has embraced the traditions and rich history of Fitch Band as one of high schools remaining “military bands.” Replacement of uniforms over a decade old has begun with a nod to the past with navy blue hats, but in the same military style. Since 2005, "Tradition with Innovation" has become the theme of the O’Connor Fitch Bands. From 2012 to 2016, he had the assistance of Austintown Middle School Band Director Marc Pupino, also a graduate of Dana School of Music, teaching and planting the seeds for future Fitch Band members in the Austintown Intermediate and Middle Schools. With 22 years as a band director, Pupino served Austintown musicians for 9 of those years. Pupino has since transitioned to a role as an Austintown School District Principal, and O'Connor is currently assisted by Jeremy McClaine, the Director of Bands at Austintown Middle School and Assistant Director for the Fitch Band. McClaine has a Masters Degree from Duquesne University and a Bachelors Degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. McClaine joined the Austintown Music Department in 2014 as a paraprofessional with the 5th Grade Band Program. In 2015, he began teaching full time as the 5th Grade Band Director and general music teacher, and in 2016, he transitioned to Director of Bands at Austintown Middle School. McClaine has initiated innovative curriculum for the recruitment of 5th grade students into the music ensembles and embraces the high standards and expectations of the Fitch Band.
In 2017, the 85th edition of the Fitch Marching Band saw the debut of new uniforms as the Band led the Main Street Parade at Walt Disney World, Florida for Presidents’ Day. In April 2018, the Band was featured in our Nation’s Capital for the National Cherry Blossom Parade.