Tiger Marching Band welcomes new directors

Ready for another award-winning year, the 2019-2020 Mighty Tiger Marching Band welcomed two new directors, John Pearson and Amanda Petro. 

They joined the efforts of incumbent Dripping Springs High School Band Head Director Derek Woods and Assistant Director Jason Dye. The new directorial talents will contribute not only their experience as musicians but also as leadership within the various instructional and artistic design aspects of this year’s marching ensembles.

New Assistant director John Pearson comes to Dripping Springs from Belton High School, where he served as associate director of bands and ensembles for more than three years, and prior to that, was Director of Bands at Clayton High School in Clayton, North Carolina from 2006-2016.

Under his leadership, the 160-member Clayton High School band also won multiple grand championships at North Carolina Bandmasters Association state-sanctioned competitions and has been a six-time finalist in the Bands of America Regional Championships.

His Color Guard was a Winter Guard International (WGI) World Championship finalist and the percussion section was awarded several Winter Guard International Medals, including a World Championship Gold Medal in 2013.

Pearson, whose tastes in music run the gamut from classical to religious, jazz and world music, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. In 2009, He was awarded National Board Certification.

His first exposure to the world of marching bands began with his sister’s membership in the school band. Pearson, who plays saxophone, joined the band and was mentored by the director. “I knew I wanted to become a band director as a high school student and was willing to work hard to achieve that goal,” Pearson said.

This year’s bandsmen agree – Mr. Pearson’s leadership style is chill and extremely well-organized, earning a vote of all thumbs up. 

He and his wife have two children, and he enjoys spending time with his family when he’s off the clock.

Also joining the high school marching team of directors is Amanda Petro, a native of Plainfield, Illinois, which is a southwestern suburb of Chicago.  Graduating from Plainfield High School in 2015, she went on to Indiana University in Bloomington’s prestigious Jacobs School of Music, where she earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree, graduating in the Spring of 2019.

“My twin sister is heavily involved in Color Guard and my younger brother is in choir, but there are no other musicians in my family,” she said.

Every year during her childhood, Amanda’s family watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV and that was her first experience, seeing a marching band. “When I became old enough, I joined my first year of marching band in seventh grade, and from there, I’ve been a performer and educator with bands ever since!” Petro said.

Although her first choice of instruments was the flute, she confesses she could not make a sound at all. “I ended up trying almost every instrument, and landed on trumpet because of my 5th grade band director, Mrs. Valerie Page,” Petro said. “When I played trumpet for the first time, she told me she thought I would make a great player someday and I had a lot of potential with the trumpet. So the next day, I came to school with that as my choice, and I never looked back. I have now played the trumpet, my instrument of choice, for the past 13 years.” 

A member of Drum Corps International’s (DCI) Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps from 2015-2018, Petro was a horn line member on trumpet each year, and served as the Horn Sergeant for the corps in 2018. 

Her decision to become a band director came as a result of her high school band director, Mr. Steven Pyter. “Being in his ensembles brought me so much joy and excitement, as well as pushed me to always keep pursuing the next level of greatness possible,” she said. “I had many other academic passions and drives, but nothing brought me the excitement as my band experiences.

What makes her a good fit for the Tiger Marching Band? 

“My determination and commitment to my students, my positive attitude, and the love I have for the arts,” Petro said without hesitation. “I’ve always wanted to work with people to make a difference both in individual lives and in the world in some way. As a band director, I am able to simultaneously share my passions with my students, enjoy my daily work, and empower young people to be the best versions of themselves.  In doing that, I am achieving my goal of having a positive effect on our world as a whole” 

Be sure and welcome Mr. Pearson and Miss Petro to Dripping Springs if you see them during a game or band competition.