TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. - A retired band director and former East Palestine resident is having one of his concert band pieces published and made available to the public.
Larry Kelley, son of Charles and the late Joanne Kelley, is a 1972 graduate of East Palestine High School who has more than 30 years of experience working with competitive marching bands. He has been retired for the past five years.
He spent the majority of his instructional career at Westerville North High School in Westerville, north of Columbus, and he helped open the new high school as director of instrumental music in his final two years there.
Prior to employment at Westerville, he worked with school bands in the cities of Delaware, Uhrichsville and Parma. His bands qualified for the Ohio Music Education Association Marching Band Finals for 18 years, and those bands, as well as his concert and jazz bands, received several local, regional and national awards as well.
"I've been writing music for bands for years, but I just never thought I'd be able to get anything published," Kelley commented.
That changed earlier this summer, when Neil A. Kjos Music Company expressed an interest in one of his original compositions, titled "Heritage Bay."
According to his company's Web site, the piece is a grade one selection. He explained most compositions are graded in difficulty on a scale from one to six or seven, depending on the scale, and "Heritage Bay," a song he originally wrote for an elementary school band in Westerville, is meant for children at the end of their first year playing instruments.
"It's been very successful," he noted. "The years I've done it, the kids always ask to play it again."
The piece features all the sections of the band, which he explained is something he believes makes it so appealing, and he described it as rapid with a little bit of a pop feel.
Kelley, who holds a bachelor's degree in music education from Mount Union College and a master's degree in music education from the University of Akron, said he hopes to continue to have his musical works published.
Samples of "Heritage Bay" and other arrangements by Kelley are available for listening online at his company's Web site, www.bandmusicdesign.com.
