Western Wayne Administration has recognized John Kear as an outstanding student. John is a senior who has been highly involved in Western Wayne’s music programs all four years of high school.
He served as a drum major for Western Wayne’s Marching Band this fall season and is also first chair clarinet for Western Wayne’s Concert Band.
John recently was awarded the Black and Gold Award at the band’s annual awards ceremony. His fellow band members voted for him to win this award, which goes to the student in the band who not only greatly excels at playing his or her instrument but also is always willing to help others.
John has participated in many music festivals over the years at the district and regional level. This year John placed first in clarinet at the PMEA District 9 Band Festival. He then went on to Region Band where he also placed first which earned him a spot at this year’s PMEA All-State Conference playing in the All-State Wind Ensemble. At Region Band, John scored a total of 488 points, beating the student in second place by 50 points. This was the first year John had the honor of participating in states.
“It was the best ensemble I’ve been a part of,” John said. “It was fun to experience playing with a group where everyone had the same sense of passion for playing their instruments.”
Participating in the All-State Band Conference wasn’t the only first for John this year. He also joined the Western Wayne Chorus, where he sings tenor, and had the opportunity to compete in the PMEA District 9 Chorus Festival where he came in 9th place.
John thinks that his successes in band have helped him to develop as a vocal performer.
“Playing an instrument has helped me to develop a good sense of pitch,” John explained.
During his time at Western Wayne when John wasn’t working on his music for band and chorus, he was spending time playing in the pit orchestra for the school’s yearly musicals. John played with the pit band for three years. Then for his senior year, John was cast as one of the lead roles in Nice Work If You Can Get It where he played the quirky, over-the-top role of Cookie.
John also had the honor of being named a WVIA artist of the week this past January for all of his accomplishments in performing arts.
In his spare time, John is working on music with the Wayne County Fire & Drum Corp., a group he formed with his fellow musician friends from Western Wayne. The group has done performances at the GDS Fair in Newfoundland and Community Day at the Evergreen Elementary School in the past and looks forward to doing more performances for the public in the future.
John will attend Marywood University in the fall with a major in music education.
