Julie McCombs
Quintus F. Wrighten, Jr. is the new band director for Riverside High School.
Julie McCombs
Riverside debuted its "cinematic" program at halftime of the football game versus Greer.
Jim Fair
The marching band comes onto the field for pre-game entertainment.
“It is a performance-driven activity, which is absolutely beautiful,” said Wrighten. “It’s a collaborative effort. There’s something about that synchronicity and synergy in corporate music making that is simply unmatched and unparalleled in any other activity.”
Wrighten began teaching in 2006 at Blythewood’s middle and high schools where he thrived for three years in the music-driven community. Two years as graduate assistant and one as associate assistant at the University of Memphis allowed him to work in every part of the band program. Another year was spent as associate director of bands and assistant professor of music education.
He returned to South Carolina, where he built a new program at Cane Bay Middle School in Summerville to where he had 100 students and many placed in honor bands.
Wrighten is now at Riverside replacing the legendary Kory Vrieze who retired in June.
Perhaps the reason for his success is that Wrighten teaches his students far more than music. He shows them how to be comprehensive citizens. “Students are responsible not only to themselves but to their peers and to the organization as a whole. We talk about responsibility, interpersonal skills, relationships, and hard work,” Wrighten said.
This year’s marching band program is an exotic blend of history and culture. The band debuted the program Friday night at halftime of the Riverside-Greer football game.
“Our show tells the story of an actual ancient sunken city,” said Wrighten. “The name of that city is Heracleion. It was the gate of business for the Greeks into Egypt.”
However, a series of natural disasters sent the city to the bottom of the Mediterranean. “It really is a neat concept,” said Wrighten. “We’ve got a lot of great music picked out and planned to perform.”
Wrighten called the show “cinematic,” but said, “I don’t want to necessarily pull the cover off of that . . . there is some stuff (audiences) are going to recognize.”
The band will perform its competitive program again Friday at halftime of the Woodmont at Riverside football game.