Making military music

By JEFFREY SIMMONS/Staff

It was an invasion of music, and a Rocky Gap High School student was one of the soldiers.
Joining the U.S. Army Field Band on a version of the “Chesapeake Bay March,” 18-year-old Chris Thompson was one of a handful of hand-picked area high school students who got a chance to play with the renowned military musical group on Friday in West Virginia.
“It was a really great experience,” said Thompson who’s been playing the trumpet in county band since eighth grade. “It was really fun.”
The RGHS senior got the gig thanks to Bluefield College’s Chamber Band director, Andrew Necessary. Thompson, who also plays with the Wytheville Community College Concert Band, is the only high school student in the BC group.
“I think Chris is an excellent musician with a bright future ahead of him,” Necessary wrote in an e-mail. “An excellent student who not only performs excellently on the trumpet but also is a composer and arranger, having composed a sonata for the Wytheville Community Band, arranged his high school’s marching show this fall, which garnered an Excellent Rating at state festival, and is currently helping me write the Bluefield College Fight Song.”
Even with his past exposure to stage performances and live music, Thompson was still awed by Friday’s free concert at the Brushfork Armory.
“It was the best band I’ve ever heard in my life,” he said. “They were great.”
Along with playing a number with the band members, Thompson and the other students got a chance to talk to the musicians whose mission is to “carry into the grassroots of our country the story of our magnificent Army.”
According to the group’s Web site, the field band has performed in every state and more than 30 countries.
“Tours include formal public concerts, school assemblies, educational outreach programs, festivals, and radio and television appearances,” the site said.
On Friday and during his other public performances, Thompson doesn’t let a little nervousness detract from the thrill of being on stage.
“It’s a rush being out there and getting to play in front of people,” he said.
His musical abilities also extend to the saxophone, piano, guitar, bass guitar and French horn.
After he graduates this spring, Thompson plans on attending Bluefield College and majoring in music education. He’d like to land a job teaching high school and serving as a band director.
Thompson, who enjoys a round of golf in between musical endeavors, is the son of Roger and Barbara Thompson of Rocky Gap.
Jeffrey Simmons can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .