Nic McVaney was announced as the new director of the Big Red Band March 10, becoming the second PHS alumni to fill the role. The first was current band director Dan White, who was McVaney’s high school director.
“This band left a huge, huge mark on my life and it’s been a big part of my life even after graduating,” said McVaney, a 2018 graduate. “It also has a huge impact on the lives of students, more than we even realize. We just see the tip of the iceberg and there’s so much more than that.”
McVaney grew up around music, with his grandpa being in a bluegrass band and the rest of his family being in different music groups throughout his life. So when he started playing the trumpet, it was no surprise that he never stopped.
“The first day I got my trumpet in fifth grade, I pretty much did not stop playing, to the point where I think I drove my parents insane,” the new director said. “But it’s just something I really enjoyed, and I never expected it’d turn out like this.”
High school band is where everything started to click for McVaney. Being in the Big Red Band himself, he learned about the traditions and the ways the program ran.
“Mr. White would have got to see me in ninth grade, having pretty much no idea what I was doing, to all of a sudden, ‘well this guy’s gonna get this scholarship to play in college somehow,’ so getting to see that transformation (within students) will be a really cool thing,” McVaney said.
He had always thought he might be a teacher, at first for history, but after four years of college and playing in the band at Glenville State University, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education and ended up teaching choir at Hamilton Middle School.
“You’re gonna get a lot of energy from young musicians,” McVaney said. “You’re gonna get new perspectives you never even thought of because they’ve got different experiences, they’ve got different backgrounds and you get to see their transformation.”
After learning about this energy McVaney then became the Big Red Band’s assistant director, band director at Hamilton and took over the role of teaching fifth grade band at Jefferson, Kanawha, Emerson and Criss elementary schools in 2024.
“I was helping out with the band when I was teaching choir and the next year became the assistant, which was weird because it’s kind of odd being in a program and then you’re assistant all of a sudden and you’re like ‘wait I’m actually kind of in charge now,’” he said.
After current director White decided that he was retiring after 20 years, McVaney applied and got the job. He has already started planning his first season show, which is planned to have a Latin theme.
“I started talking to people about it (next season) pretty much immediately, like ‘what do you think about this idea?’” he said. “I’m just excited for the opportunity to try and make this (program) as good as I possibly can.”
As he looks forward to the upcoming season and the future of the program, there are many things he wants students to take away from being in band.
“I want them to be more prepared for life, whatever and wherever it is they’re gonna go,” McVaney said. “I would hope students feel like they were part of the legacy of the band program, what they did mattered and feel like they left their mark and did everything they possibly could want to do here.”
