Pretend you’re a K-12 teacher looking for a job and come across this ad:
Sound impossible to achieve?
Not if it’s with the 235 members of the Wando High School Marching Band, all of whom operate as one large single unit, which has not only won 15 state band championships from 2005-23, but is also recognized nationwide under the tutelage of Bobby Lambert and Lanie Radecke as one of America’s top high school bands.
“Our team for the marching band, jazz band, color guards and concert bands is a major reason for our success and for my longevity,” said Lambert, now entering his 11th year as the Wando band director. “Nothing this strong could exist without a number of people ‘rowing in the same direction’ and these people, along with our amazing band booster and Bands of Wando Foundation members make the impossible possible – financially, logistically and positively.”
Since coming to Wando, Lambert has led regularly changing members to two Bands of America Regional Championships and three top-8 BOA Grand National Championships appearances.
Invitations to perform have come from the USC Band Clinic (2017), the SCMEA State Convention (2018), Charleston Music Festival (2019) and the prestigious Midwest Clinic Band and Orchestra Conference (2019). Through it all, the Warrior band has had more students in Region and All-State bands than any other school in the state.
“As Bobby and I have collaborated, we have worked together to continue the great work that came before us, honoring the past while growing the future,” said Radecke, who has been part of the band since 2006. “We have grown our national presence, empowered student ownership and continued to provide the highest levels of educational opportunities. Students are prepared not just to perform, but to lead, innovate and express themselves in meaningful ways in whatever they choose to do in their lives.”
Both added that all the success, while they are indeed a large part of it, has come from people who support their efforts in ways that are often reserved for major athletics programs.
“The arts lean into creative development, multiple funding needs, extensive exposure, as well as necessary critiques and reviews,” noted Radecke. “These support systems overlap in physical and psychological domains but still require specific expertise and infrastructure to truly flourish.”
Because the main focus is music, the growth and maturing of the Wando Marching Band has also required the right partnership, such as Lambert and Radecke.
Lambert said he came to Wando from Chicago originally to be closer to family, but mainly because of a chance viewing of the band at the 2007 Midwest Clinic Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago. “I didn’t know of a program that was strong enough to perform at this prestigious event, but they were wonderful,” he said. “From that point on, I became a fan and met Lanie and former band director Scott Rush.”
Asked to join Wando in 2014, Lambert jumped at the chance, “thrilled, honored and terrified all at the same time to come to such a strong, established program while also moving across the country.”
Now, after more than 10 years leading the program, approximately $3 million in band-student collegiate scholarships offered since 2023 and more marching honors than could ever fit in a trophy case, the only thing Lambert and Radecke have to be terrified of is consoling the players after a competition if they don’t finish first.
“We are returning to the Bands of America Grand Nationals Competition in Indianapolis, Indiana – our first time going back since 2021,” Lambert said. “Our motto is ‘Great people doing great things.’ We have had so many success stories from people who struggled with school to academic powerhouses who all found a way to express themselves through music. For me, that is priceless.”
By L. C. Leach III
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