Odessa High School’s new orchestra director John Benton is returning to his hometown area with hopes of growing the program and achieving top form.
Originally from Midland, Benton was most recently in Pampa as director of bands. He has 11 years of music education under his belt.
“I grew up in Midland and went to Midland High School, so … returning to the Permian Basin is returning home for me,” Benton said.
Benton earned a bachelor of music with an emphasis in education from West Texas A&M University in Canyon. At WT, he said, everyone is a performer first so they have emphases and his was in education. He also has a master of arts in conducting from WT.
“They have a fantastic program,” Director of Fine Arts Aaron Hawley said. “Many of our students from the Permian Basin area continue up to WT for music ed. Music education, lots of times they’re even going to be performers, and then the connection is a lot of their professors come down (to) help our band programs, so it’s a very small world in the music field.”
Around sophomore year of high school, Benton decided music education would be his career path.
Benton was in band and orchestra all through high school, playing the violin in orchestra and percussion in band. Sitting out during rehearsal on one of the pieces, he realized how much he loved music and that he didn’t think he could do without it after high school.
Benton started violin in sixth grade and began percussion in seventh grade at San Jacinto Junior High in Midland. He continued both all through high school and college.
There are 44 students in OHS orchestra.
Hawley said Benton is also helping with the fifth-grade strings program that is starting in Ector County ISD.
“Currently, my schedule is high school in the mornings, middle school in the afternoons, it depends on the day, but I go to one of the two feeders, either Bowie or Crockett …,” Benton said.
He added that he knew about the fifth-grade strings starting after he applied.
“That was not something that scared me because I was in a smaller district when I was band director and I taught sixth to 12th grade. I had the varsity band and I had beginner clarinets and beginner this, that and the other instruments. So this is not really any different than what I’ve been doing. It’s just stringed instruments instead, which is also part of my background,” Benton said.
He added that he feels it’s very beneficial for students to start strings early.
“I think so much of any instrument you learn is the muscle memory and music fluency. I think it’s incredibly beneficial getting them to read music early game, getting them to understand the physicality of playing those instruments. I think it’s a wonderful thing for those students to do,” Benton said.
Hawley noted that stringed instruments are unique because mastery takes a long time.
“The younger we start them, the better,” Hawley said.
With stringed instruments, Benton said it’s a little bit of a steeper learning curve.
“… It’s not like guitar where you have frets. You put your finger down in approximately the same spot. You have to be absolutely precise; or like the woodwinds you have a certain key combination and the note comes out … String instruments, you have to be very precise with your fingers all throughout,” Benton added.
The size of the orchestra is about the same this year as it was last year. Hawley said the concept of elementary strings is to develop feeder programs for orchestra.
Benton said there are a lot of “really brilliant kids and they get pulled in a lot of different directions.”
“A lot of them do get involved in certain academic classes that create schedule conflicts. We’re hoping to maybe find some solutions to that eventually, as well. But it’s really a blessing having so many brilliant students. They’ve been absolutely wonderful to me since I came here. They’ve been very kind and accepting and working really hard,” Benton said.
His goal for the orchestra is excellence.
“It’s not about the trophies. It’s not about the competition. It’s about performing at a very high level, and having musical excellence (as) your goal. If you do that, things like trophies and the competitive aspect … will follow,” Benton said.
“But that shouldn’t be the goal. The goal should be how can we perform whether it’s a Halloween concert, a holiday concert, UIL, a spring concert, playing for a group of fifth graders, no matter what it is, it should be an excellent performance. So it’s enjoyment of music and musical excellence,” he added.
Hawley said they are very pleased to have Benton on board.
“He brings a level of energy and professionalism that we feel is very important for this high school in this particular program,” Hawley said.
Benton said the program has started using a Facebook page and website that can be found at www.ohsbronchoorchestra.org and www.facebook.com/ohsorch. As the excellence grows and students perform at a higher level, interest in the program will grow.
“And more people will just gravitate to it. They like to be part of something that’s successful,” Hawley said.
The orchestra’s first concert is Oct. 6 at the OHS Performing Arts Center. It will be a Halloween-theme concert, tentatively called “A Nightmare on Dotsy.”
“Hoping we play well enough so the joke doesn’t write itself,” Benton said.
Being back in the Permian Basin, he said, has been great. His parents still live in Midland, so it’s a lot easier to see them.
“… One of the great things about the Permian Basin I’ve seen, and I’m still just dipping my toes in it, was there’s such a good fine arts culture. … There’s musical opportunities for the students, for performances for people to see and that’s something that I definitely missed being in a smaller town …,” Benton said.
He added that there was emphasis on fine arts in the Panhandle, but the region is different because it’s so spread out.
“A lot of the towns (and) communities are an hour-plus away from everything, so you don’t get the opportunities for collaboration on the same level that you do here. I know some of our smaller communities are still fairly spread out, but it is more (that) the Permian Basin itself is self-contained, so it’s a lot easier to take students to a performance. The logistical challenges of the Panhandle are a little bit different, just because of the nature of the geography,” Benton said.
Benton is married to his wife, Sharon, who is a music therapist working at Spectrum of Solutions in Midland.
