Fairfax Wind Symphony

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 fourteen VMEA In-service Conferences, appeared at the Kennedy Center five times, performed at the GMU Potomac Festival three times, and presented concerts upon invitation for the 2006 and 2021 Midwest Clinic, and the 2016 ACB Convention. Annual concerts shared with the GMU Wind Symphony are also a tradition, starting with the 2002 season. The band was the sole recipient of the John Philip Sousa Foundation’s “Sudler Silver Scroll” in 2019. This award is presented to America’s most outstanding community bands in recognition of sustained excellence. 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, Velvet Brown, George Etheridge, the Boston Brass, David Maslanka, Stephen Bolstad, the JMU Faculty Brass Quintet, Col. Arnald Gabriel, Sharon Bonneau, Chris Vadala, Phil Franke, Erin Fleming Morgan, and Cynthia Johnston Turner. FWS sponsors, in conjunction with the GMU School of Music, the “National Community Band Festival.” This multi-day 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. The FWS is also an “Arts Ignite” partner with the Fairfax County Public Schools.

Fairfax Wind Symphony Conductor

Stan Schoonover

Stan Schoonover has been Music Director of the Fairfax Wind Symphony since its founding in 1999. His thirty-two year career in public school education included Bangor, Mt. Vernon, West Springfield, and Robinson high schools, and eleven years as Music Supervisor for the Fairfax County (VA) Public Schools. Ensembles under his direction have appeared three times at the Midwest Clinic, the National Concert Band Festival, the Mid-East Clinic, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Soldiers and Sailors Hall, the GMU Center of the Arts, the Forbes Center, and at fifteen VMEA In-Service Conferences. For more than twenty years, his bands received championship honors and superior ratings in more than 10 states. The John Phillip Sousa Foundation awarded the Sudler Silver Scroll to the Fairfax Wind Symphony in December of 2019. Mr. Schoonover has been an Adjunct Instructor at James Madison University, and is a member of the MFA Educational Team, and the Midwest Clinic Advisory Committee.

Mr. Schoonover received degrees from Gettysburg College, and West Chester University. He is an active Past-President of the Virginia Band and Orchestras Directors Association [VBODA], and an elected member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He was named to the 2018 VBODA Hall of Fame, the 2017 Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame, received the 2012 VBODA Phillip J. Fuller Award, and the 2006 VMEA Outstanding Administrator Award. In October of 2004, Mr. Schoonover was inducted into the East Stroudsburg (PA) Hall of Fame. Marquis Who’s Who presented him with the 2017 Albert Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

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