Mr. John Rants, Director of Bands

    john_rants@msvl.k12.wa.us

Mr. Rants is a 17 year music educator veteran, this being his 8th year leading the Marysville-Pilchuck High School Bands. Prior to Marysville, Mr. Rants taught the band program at Lakewood High School. In 2010, Mr. Rants was named the Seattle Symphony's Music Educator of the Year, an honor which has only been bestowed twice. Mr. Rants is currently Past-President of the Mount Pilchuck Music Educators Association, where he has served the on the board for the past 6 years, 3 years of which he was the President of the region. Mr. Rants holds a Master's in Education Technology from City University, Bachelor's of Music from Western Washington University and an Associates of Arts degree from Whatcom Community College. 

During his years in college, Mr. Rants managed Brown's Music in Bellingham and was a professional sound and recording engineer, working with such artists as: Robert Cray, Jackson Browne, The Gatlin Brothers, Dione Warwick, The Kingston Trio, Glenn Yarbourgh, and The Coats. working Mr. Rants is also a verteran of the US armed forces as he had served in the US Navy and Naval Reserves as an aviation electronics technician. His military training enabled him to become a factory authorized repair technician for Marshall Amplifiers, Peavey Electronics, and Yamaha Electronics. The majority of music education training came from his father, Wally Rants, who taught in the Highline School District as a high school music educator for over 31 years and was inducted into the Washington State Music Educators Hall of Fame.