Fairfax Wind Symphony

Performer Details

Performer Bio Synopsis

Fairfax Wind Symphony The Fairfax Wind Symphony is a registered 501c3 charitable organization for IRS purposes. All participants have volunteered their time for this performance. The Fairfax Wind Symphony was formed in the fall of 1999 for the benefit of local music directors and teachers. Its’ primary focus is to read and prepare wind literature of all grade levels, and to explore contemporary rehearsal techniques and procedures. In addition to presenting numerous local concerts, the ensemble has been featured at thirteen VMEA In-service Conferences, appeared at the Kennedy Center five times, performed at the GMU Potomac Festival three times, presented a concert upon invitation for the 2006 Mid-West Clinic and the 2016 ACB Convention. Annual concerts shared with the GMU Wind Symphony are also a tradition, starting with the 2002 season. Guest artists have included: Brian Bowman, Charles West, Moe Turrentine, Lance LaDuke, Dale Underwood, Carl Bly, Anthony Maiello, John Casagrande, Dennis Zeisler, Mark Camphouse, Jim Lunsford, Robert W. Smith, Don Lucas, Russell Penney, Mark Norman, Ed Fraedrich, Richard Crain, Roger Behrend, Carl “Jeff” Bianchi, Gary Green, Jim Cochran, George Etheridge, the Boston Brass, David Maslanka, Stephen Bolstad, the JMU Faculty Brass Quintet, Col. Arnald Gabriel, Sharon Bonneau, Chris Vadala, Phil Franke, and Rick Whitehead. FWS sponsors, in conjunction with the GMU School of Music, the “National Community Band Festival”. This event provides community bands with an opportunity to perform in a wonderful hall and share their love of music with each other and the local community. In 2021, the FWS began an “Arts Ignite” Partnership with the Fairfax County Public Schools. This program allows for interaction between FWS members and FCPS students and teachers in a variety of settings throughout the school year. There are benefits to both groups: to improve the outcomes of the music programs in FCPS as well as provide rehearsal and concert support for the FWS. The FWS Jazz Ensemble “Fairfax Jazz Swing” was formed in 2013 for those teachers and musicians who have an interest in “big band” style music and its’ rehearsal and performance. The group, led by Tony Aversano and Bill Schnepper, has appeared regularly at Blues Alley, as well as James Madison University and Shenandoah University, where it has been featured numerous times as a part of the National Jazz Workshop.

Fairfax Wind Symphony

Conductor's Bio

Stan Schoonover has led the Fairfax Wind Symphony for all of its’ 22 seasons as Music Director. His thirty-two year career in public school education included eleven years as Music Supervisor for the Fairfax County (VA) Public Schools, widely regarded as one of America’s foremost school music programs. Ensembles under his direction enjoyed nineteen years of consecutive Superior ratings and his groups have earned national and international recognition for their outstanding performances, including two Mid-West International Clinic appearances, three National Music Clinics, the National Concert Band Festival, the Mid-East Clinic, the ACB Convention, and fourteen Virginia Music Education Association (VMEA) In-Service Conference appearances. His ensembles have performed on three occasions for the President of the United States. Mr. Schoonover has been an adjunct Instructor at James Madison University, serves as a Coordinator for the Music for All [MFA] National Concert Band Festival, is a member of the MFA Educational Team, and the Midwest Clinic Advisory Committee. He has led ensembles throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, including performances at Carnegie Hall, Soldiers and Sailors Hall, the GMU Center for the Arts, the Eastman Theatre, the Forbes Center, and the Kennedy Center Concert Hall and Millennium Stage. Mr. Schoonover received his B.Sc. Degree, cum laude, from Gettysburg College, and a Master of Music degree from West Chester University. Postgraduate work has included study at the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, George Mason University, and the University of Michigan. He has studied conducting with Kenneth Laudermilch, Arnald D. Gabriel, William D. Revelli, H. Robert Reynolds, and Anthony Maiello, and considers Robert Zellner, John Casagrande, Jeff Bianchi and Gary Green major influences. Mr. Schoonover is an active Past-President of the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association (VBODA) and is an elected member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He has received numerous Citation of Excellence awards from the National Band Association, was named to the Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame as well as the VBODA Hall of Fame, received the 2012 VBODA Phillip J. Fuller Award for sustained Musical Excellence, and the 2006 VMEA Outstanding Administrator Award. He is the recipient of commendations from the President of the United States, the United States Senate and House of Representatives, the Governor of Virginia, the Virginia State Senate and House of Delegates, and multiple commendations from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County Public Schools, including the Hobson Award for Fine Arts Instruction and the Mount Vernon High School Teacher of the Year Award. In October of 2004, Mr. Schoonover was inducted into the East Stroudsburg (PA) Music Hall of Fame. He is an honorary “Suncoaster”, and was an inaugural inductee of the St. Petersburg Festival of States Band Director Hall of Fame. Professional memberships include NAfME, Phi Beta Mu, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Betta Kappa, and the National Band Association. In 2017, he received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who. Golf, while elusive, remains a passion.