Members of the Blennerhassett Middle School Symphonic Band pose for a picture Monday in the school’s band room. The group was named West Virginia Music Educators Association’s 2025 Middle School Honor Band. The group will perform at the WVMEA conference on March 7 at 8 p.m. in the Little Theater of the Charleston Civic Center. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG — The Blennerhassett Middle School Symphonic Band has been selected as the 2025 West Virginia Music Educators Association (WVMEA) State Honor Ensemble.

“It just means the world to us,” Blennerhassett Middle School Band Director Alyssa Bumpus said. “The looks on their faces whenever I announced it, that’s a core memory for me now. I’m never going to forget that.”

Bumpus said the WVMEA hosts an annual competition where middle and high school performing ensembles submit recordings for judges to evaluate. She said from the pool of submissions, one middle school ensemble is chosen to be named the state honor group.

“We submitted three separate band pieces: Byzantine Dances, Shenandoah, and Valley Forge March,” Bumpus said. “The judges assessed and graded every single recording.”

Bumpus said the band purposefully selected a diverse program to showcase different aspects of their musicianship – the technical and high-energy Byzantine Dances, the lyrical Shenandoah, and the classic Valley Forge March. This strategic programming was intended to impress the judges and meet the expectations of the state-level competition.

Alyssa Bumpus, Blennerhassett Middle School Band Director, leads the Symphonic Band in rehearsals Monday morning in the school’s band room. The group was named West Virginia Music Educators Association’s 2025 Middle School Honor Band. The group will perform at the WVMEA conference on March 7 at 8 p.m in the Little Theater of the Charleston Civic Center. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

“There’s a whole method behind programming that I could probably talk about for two hours but I won’t,” Bumpus said. “But what you want to do is you want to try to program accordingly.”

The Blennerhassett Middle School band will get to showcase their winning talents at the WVMEA conference on March 7 at 8 p.m in the Little Theater of the Charleston Civic Center. Bumpus said they will share the stage with another honored group, the Parkersburg South High School Chamber Choir, which was selected as the high school honor choir.

“It’s really exciting that both me and Jennifer Ratliff, the choir director, will get to take our groups down and show them off for the whole state,” Bumpus said.

She said this achievement builds upon the legacy of excellence established by previous band directors. She acknowledged the contributions of her predecessor, Will Cosby, who had also led the band to state honor ensemble recognition in 2022 and 2023.

“He’s the one who started these kids whenever they were in fifth-grade band,” Bumpus said. “So I told him, ‘Man, you gotta at least take half credit. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.'”

Members of the Blennerhassett Middle School Symphonic Band go through rehearsals Monday morning in the school’s band room. The group was named West Virginia Music Educators Association’s 2025 Middle School Honor Band. The group will perform at the WVMEA conference on March 7 at 8 p.m in the Little Theater of the Charleston Civic Center. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

Bumpus said the support of the school’s administration, including principals Matt Null and Alisha Smithberger, has also been instrumental in the band’s success.

“Their support for the arts is so incredible, and I’m so honored to be a teacher here under their administration,” Bumpus said. “You can tell they lead with love. You know they love every single kid, every single parent, every single person who walks through those doors. … They have inspired me to become a better leader. I follow their example on how to lead my bands. So it’s just wonderful having them as examples.”

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com

Members of the Blennerhassett Middle School Symphonic Band go through rehearsals Monday morning in the school’s band room. The group was named West Virginia Music Educators Association’s 2025 Middle School Honor Band. The group will perform at the WVMEA conference on March 7 at 8 p.m in the Little Theater of the Charleston Civic Center. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)