Upper School

February 16, 2026

From Gavin Thorson ’22

As I look forward to my graduation this May from Montana State University, reflecting on how I’ve grown as an academic and as a human during my time in Bozeman, I have often thought about the version of myself that was in a similar position four years ago, in the waning months of my senior year at Mounds Park Academy. This review of the last four years of my life dredged up some of my fondest memories of that spring of 2022, and perhaps my happiest memories are of playing trumpet in the band.

The band program at MPA is special, and not least because of how it began. In 1983, music educator Sarah Kumagai was looking for a change. She had bounced between schools for years, and in those days when men dominated education, opportunities for serious advancement were nonexistent. A friend steered her in the direction of MPA: “a new, progressive school.” At her meeting with Bob and Sandy Kreischer, Kumagai proposed a band program which stipulated that each band student receive individual lessons. Only through one-on-one lessons would students ever receive the care and attention necessary to improve their musical skills. Other programs often grouped students together, which was detrimental in Kumagai’s view.

The Kreischers were ready and willing to take on a young woman as their band director, and regarding her proposal about lessons, they replied: “Great — do it!”

So began Kumagai’s 18-year tenure at MPA, which saw the school’s enrollment blossom and its music program similarly thrive. Students received individual lessons, and the volume of students eventually required the employment of an additional staff member for the band program. Eventually, Kumagai was working with the drama department on producing Broadway musicals, which provided challenging scores for Kumagai’s students who played in the pit band. MPA grew bigger and bigger and sent its many graduates off into the world with pleasant memories of making music with friends. “Thank you,” is what they say to Kumagai when they see her now. She says to them, “Thank you for playing with me.”

Decades have passed since Kumagai’s time, and now Ms. Renae Wantock, with the help of Mr. Lukas Skrove, has taken up the mantle of steering the school’s band program. Wantock says that, despite all the changes that have happened over time, the band program still focuses on the individual needs of students and what is necessary for them to succeed in music. In this regard, and despite changes in staffing and facilities over the years, the program remains the same. Just as with Kumagai, students come back to Wantock and thank her for the invaluable experiences they received at MPA.

The influence of playing in band and of music education on MPA’s graduates cannot be overstated. Now, when I recall playing “Chorale and Shaker Dance,” “Ghost Run,” and Bernstein’s “Somewhere” from West Side Story, and the unforgettable “Birdland,” I can’t help but think of all the lessons Renae Wantock’s band classes taught me and how they have served me — even in a chemistry degree! Chief among these lessons is to accept one’s mistakes with grace. So what if you think you ruined a concert by adding an extra note to the end of the last song? In band, mistakes are inevitable and are treated with compassion. In time, and with much practice, each student painstakingly works their way towards excellence.

Sitting in this Bozeman coffee shop, I feel a tinge of regret that during all these years in the mountains, I’ve only played my trumpet two or three times. I miss the struggle to perfect one’s tone, to play ever-so-precisely in tune with the rest of the ensemble, to revel in the ecstasy of a Friday evening performance dressed in my concert black. For many, that time is an irreplicable, indelible memory. Their horns, oboes, or saxophones become rusted or are passed on to another generation. Perhaps we ought not to let those times slip by so easily, though. Perhaps the next time I stop by MPA, I’ll make my way to the band room, sheepishly ask Ms. Wantock if I could borrow a trumpet for a moment, and we’ll play once more.