Recognizing Ed Richards’ R-MA Tenure

TEACHER HIGHLIGHT

For most R-MA alumni, it’s hard to imagine a time when Ed Richards wasn’t walking the campus grounds or preparing the marching band for a performance on the other side of the country. Ed first stepped foot on campus in 1978, 43 years ago, following his graduation from Shenandoah University where he earned his Bachelor of Music Education Degree. As Ed jokes, “If you want to have a long career, you have to start early!”

It’s known now that Ed would serve a long and accomplished career with R-MA, but his initial plan wasn’t always to stay for the long haul. As Ed stated, “The school was in tough shape...but, I was offered a job to help with the band program and figured I had nothing to lose by trying the school out for a few years.” Ed’s initial career leap of faith was a risky endeavor at the time; military schools were a foriegn concept to him. Ed continues, “I had never been in a military school before and had no idea what to expect. Overall it ended up growing on me. I stayed.” We are all certainly thankful he did, as he would go on to contribute to the R-MA community by serving in numerous roles throughout his career.

In addition to teaching several different music courses and directing the marching band, Ed also ran the uniform store for 7-8 years in the 1980s, ran the summer school for several years throughout 80s, spent a year as acting principal of the middle school in early 90s, and even served as interim Academic Dean at one point, helping to implement the then-revolutionary idea of using email for internal correspondence. Ed jokes, “I’ve been out on the tractors mowing grass on campus. I’ve plunged toilets if that’s what was called for. When you work in a boarding school, there isn’t much you don’t do!” Ed is so ingrained in the fabric of campus that he even spent 8 years living in the dorms at the start of his career. It’s safe to say there’s hardly a square inch of campus Ed hasn’t seen.

It’s at this point in learning of Ed’s dedication to R-MA and his unrelenting willingness to pitch in where one might question why he chose to commit his life to this line of work and way of life. When asked where his motivation came from to choose a life of mentoring and teaching students, Ed remarked, “I wanted to pursue teaching in order to produce a band because I had really great mentors and experiences in bands throughout highschool and college. It was a passion for me.” Passion may have led him to R-MA’s doorsteps, but it took more than passion to stay through all of the challenges and triumphs.

Ed came to certain realizations after years of working with R-MA and establishing a nationally recognized band program. One such realization, and quite possibly the most important one of all, was when Ed recognized, “R-MA is a calling. When you finally make the decision to stay long term, you have to understand that it’s a commitment and a calling...it becomes a way of life.” He embraced this mindset of committing himself wholly to the mission of education, while also setting his sights on the Front Royal community.

Serious in his dedication to leading a band program, Ed saw an opportunity to create another band in town. Thus, the Front Royal American Legion Community Band was created

Recognizing Ed Richards’ R-MA Tenure

in 1985 under Ed’s leadership, alongside a fellow music teacher and friend. The American Legion Community Band has been playing concerts in the area ever since. The conductors and band members are all volunteer musicians from the local area and they perform at a variety of concerts and community festivals throughout the year. Despite the fact the band is not composed of R-MA students, there is still a strong link between R-MA and the American Legion band. This strong relationship has allowed the American Legion Band to practice on R-MA’s campus since its inception. In reflecting back on this special partnership, Ed expressed, “It has been a very healthy relationship, and it’s one that I hope continues to stay strong for a long time to come.” The relationship between both of Ed’s bands has remained stable throughout the years despite the changes he has seen take place at R-MA overall.

Ed was recently asked to look back through the years and assess how R-MA has changed. “The school has come a long way,” Ed pointed out. “It was holding on by the skin of its teeth when I first got there. I remember we changed administrations 6 times in 3 years at one point. Things are much more stable than way back then.” And in keeping with the theme of stability, Ed followed this last point with something he noticed did not change, his autonomy with the band program. Ed shared, “I have had excellent support from leadership even through the changes in school presidents. They all essentially gave me basic autonomy to do what I wanted to with the band program. I’m very grateful each president has allowed me to have that control.”

The band program by and large has been Ed’s biggest commitment and greatest achievement during his tenure. He has always been intentional about creating new experiences for the band and showing students what sort of opportunities are available for musicians. He explains, “It is so important to get the kids out and perform. You need to keep them engaged and to see the possibilities out there.” Ed’s solution to finding new experiences for his students was to take the band on the road. The marching band has marched in venues large and small across the country, including performances at various venues in Florida (Disney World, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, and SeaWorld), marching almost every year at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in NYC, and also performances in the Indy 500 Parade.

One particular performance venue reserves a special place in Ed’s memories. From 2010-2012, the R-MA band performed in front of nearly twelve thousand people for the National Rifle Association Convention. Ed recalled, “For a little band from a little school in Virginia, this was a big deal. To perform at that kind of venue with that size audience, and to receive really positive reviews...that was the pinnacle.”

Aside from leading the American Legion Band and the R-MA Marching Band throughout the last forty years, Ed has also dedicated his time as the Chairman for the Military School Band Association. In his role as chairman, Ed was responsible for running the National Military School Band Festival. The festival is for the top military schools in the country to perform, and each school has had to perform in national venues just to qualify. The festival is truly an impressive collection of the country’s best band programs, and Ed has been an integral part of making the festival possible. In speaking on the impact the festival has had on him, Ed shared, “I’ve been chairman and organizer of the festival since 1987-1988. It has been an important part of my life at R-MA, and it’s nice knowing the last festival before COVID took place right here on RMA’s campus.”

Ed’s retirement is officially announced and it is certain he will no longer serve as R-MA’s Bandmaster, but this does not mean he will be gone for good. “It’s funny,” Ed remarked, “I keep having to remind people I’m still going to be around here. As said many times, I’m retiring from teaching but not retiring from life. I’m going to be around at Homecoming, and I really hope I get to see a lot of alumni!”