As any WT student, past or present, knows Mr. Maione is one of the pillars of the WT community. Putting over 30 years into our arts department, he is taking a step back next year to only focus on the ensembles before retiring. We decided to sit down with him and reflect on his time at WT as he looks ahead to his final year of teaching.
What was WT like when you first started teaching?
It was a chorus, dance ensemble, and a dying orchestra. We had one building and about 100 less kids and I had 28 kids playing in the halls. And my colleague asked me, ‘How do we get them in the classroom?’ And I said a guitar ensemble.
The orchestra was dying. They used to get ringers for the concerts and I basically said, ‘Why don’t we try a jazz band?’ I had been doing it at the Chatham College summer arts and music camp. I wasn’t a purist, anybody who wanted to play was allowed in. So we started a jazz band.
The following year was a little bit of luck. You know how we get accredited every 10 years? The following year was year 9, and there was no elective in the Upper School, which was a request or maybe a demand. So I said, ‘Why don’t we start a music appreciation course?’
The following year I was walking past Dr. Callie’s office, the head of school at the time, and she says ‘John, you have a minute?’ Of course, I said sure, and she said that the orchestra teacher at the time, was leaving for Ellis and,‘Can you do what he does?’ I said yeah sure. That’s when she made me full-time. So, I went from unofficial to stipend part-time to full-time. I think the way it works with the years of school years when I retire in June of ‘27 it will be 34 years unofficially or officially at the school.
But I always used to say, Duke Ellington kept his band working even when swing music was dying after the war. He said, ‘I consider it a matter of good luck, right place at the right time, doing the right things in front of the right people.’ That is kind of like how I am here.
How different is the school right now, and what do you miss the most about the different versions of the school?
Physically, I think we are too spread out. I think that building down there, that sense of community that we always talk about here, has been lessened. Now you might not feel it because you’re in bigger classes, and I get that. I realize that it is college prep, and I realize that when the money is there, we should jump on it to build buildings and everything. This is not just me talking, it has been expressed that we’re so spread out that tightness isn’t there. We used to know each other really well. That is what I miss the most. So much happened in that one building in those early years, that is the germ of this buildup to where we are now. That is missed.
Whenever Gary Neils [previous head of school] was here in the early 2000s, he did a big survey about what people see as the strength of the school, and it was the arts program. I remember when he made this announcement, people were mad. How can you insult us in the math department, in the languages department? But we were making things happen heavy, the Kelly Awards, the buildup of our program, it all started back then. It saddens me deeply and worries me that every decision made promotes the academic. We’re a college-based school, I get that. But it has taken away from art’s possibilities.
You used to have to take 10 credits in the arts to graduate. Now, I think since they went off of APs, you have to take an elective here and there to fill out your schedule. In the beginning, it wasn’t that way. Ensembles were an extra; you had to take a tech theater course or a music appreciation course. The school has lost that, and it scares me. I mean, maybe I am just being worried about my baby that built up from nothing here because, as I said in the beginning, there was chorus, dance, and a dying orchestra.
What do you think the solution to this deprioritization of the arts is?
“I don’t know what the answer is. If I were 10 years younger and coming back, I don’t know what the answer would be. I am probably getting tougher, trying to, but I don’t want to lose anybody.
I had a trumpeter in the early days that I bet he knew how to play seven notes on trumpet the whole year. Seven notes. When he left he said it is playing in jazz band was the most memorable thing he is going to take out of Winchester. Now how do I start getting tough and maybe eliminate some of those type of kids who want to do other things too? That’s not me.
What is your advice for future teachers?
“This is not a job, not in this space, not in this school, not in the arts. It has to be a passion. You have to love it, and you can’t be worried about having to do extra things and not getting compensated. You have to want to go the extra mile for your students because if you do it, they’ll do it.”
What do you consider your legacy to be at WT?
“I don’t think of it as a legacy. It’s a nice word. I love making music, and I love teaching students. I love you guys. I mean that, sounds corny, but it is the truth. My best friends in my life are people I made music with. It goes the same for students. We made music together.
Things like music, like art, and a theater experience can change a life. That’s what I hope my legacy is, that I helped kids in their life to find something more that what you need to have on the transcript.
I hope this continues. This is my baby. I just hope things continue because, like I said, there was dance, there was chorus, there was a dying orchestra. That’s all there was here. Now we have music technology classes. We have a thriving orchestra, a jazz band that is killer, a guitar ensemble that is 30 years old next year. I just hope that those things continue. But I don’t think of that as my legacy, students are my legacy, not a classroom. I hope that is the way that people see it someday.
As students of Mr. Maione, it is evident his passion for the arts. We have learned from him, been pushed by him, and become better musicians because of him. It will be hard for us and the school to say goodbye to him next year. But, hopefully, goodbye does not mean the end of our arts program. As Mr. Maione details over and over again, it is the students who made the program. He sent us an email after we talked to him. The following is how it read:
“About how my approach was influenced:
In the early years of the Jazz Band, I had 2 brothers, Kirit and Gautam Ganguli.
Their mom,Dr. Mary Ganguli, sent me a Christmas card one year, that I often talk about, and actually can put my finger on. It simply read:
‘thanks for what you’re doing for our sons’ souls…’
the life-affirming magic of making music
maione”
Our job now as students is to open our souls to music. To continue playing, performing, and learning. We will do this, if not to feed our own souls, but to continue Mr. Maione’s legacy.
