Mark Calima is a music educator in Texas, where he spent fourteen years directing middle and high school band programs. He has led marching bands and concert bands, and taken his young musicians to numerous competitions.

“In addition to the success I have had as a marching band director, having produced [Bands of America] Grand National Finalists and UIL 6A State Participants, I am also an adjudicator for Drum Corps International and Bands of America,” he explains. “So I have seen the dual perspectives of field competition.”

As he knows from his own experience, it is not easy to establish a first-rate high school band, and to have them consistently competing at different competitions. The key to success, it seems, is a combination of experienced teachers, like Mark Calima, along with a supportive school administration, high standards, and dedication.

And of course, practice. A lot of practice.

“You need a long-term investment in a program of excellence,” said Stephen Massey, a Massachusetts music educator who has had a lot of success. “It’s challenging. There isn’t a civic mandate for every town to have a great music program. It’s going to take a special teacher to go into a community with no mandate for an excellent music program and build one.”

It takes years, and a lot of hard work, for successful band programs to develop and endure, as Mark Calima knows. It starts with dedicated teachers who are committed to excellence, and to putting in all the work it takes to achieve long-term goals. Community support, in particular the support of the parents of band members, is also a critical part of the equation.

Some experienced band leaders say it takes as long as ten years for a music teacher to develop into a first-rate band instructor. There is no substitute for all those years of experience. Those teachers and band leaders just starting out can benefit from a mentor relationship with a veteran band leader. “It’s about how the ensemble is rehearsed,” Stephen Massey said. “The rehearsal is everything and the rehearsal is the key to greatness.”

As Mark Calima has learned, one of the biggest challenges is getting students to fit music into their busy lives and schedules. It seems to be more difficult than it was for earlier generations, but it is not an insurmountable problem.

Mark Calima spent six years as an Associate Director of Bands at several schools, before becoming the Director of Bands at Cedar Ridge High School in Round Rock, Texas, in 2010.