Bands have been a major
force in the life of Edythe Moore McArthur since she
began playing trombone in the sixth grade at Lexington
Elementary School.
The high points in her high school years were
band clinics, band camps, and two years membership in
the Mississippi All-State Lions Band.
During her years at
Mississippi Southern College, where she received the
Bachelor of Music Education degree, she was a member of
the Marching and Symphonic Bands, and the Symphony
Orchestra. A
charter member of Mu Phi Epsilon and Tau Beta Sigma.
She was the first president of Tau Beta Sigma.
It was during those years that she met John
McArthur whom she married in 1958.
After teaching in high
schools in Taylorsville, Pelahatchie, and in Wayne
County for ten years, Mrs. McArthur began working with
junior high bands when the McArthurs moved to Starkville
in 1968. It was
at the junior high that she spent the remainder of her
career feeling that this was where she could make the
greatest contribution both to the student and to the
band program with which she was associated.
During the thirteen years
she directed the Starkville Henderson Junior High School
Band, Mrs. McArthur led the group to consistent Superior
ratings in Concert, Sight Reading, and Marching.
The band was frequently invited to perform at
various directors’ workshops including the New Materials
Clinic at Mississippi State University, the Instrumental
Conductors Conference at the University of Southern
Mississippi, the ARK-LA-TEX conference at Louisiana
Tech, and a Capitol Concert in observance of National
Music Week. The
band was also featured as Band of the Month in the
School Musician magazine.
Individual students were
recognized for their excellence in solo and ensemble
contests and participation in clinic bands.
Several were selected for membership in the
Mississippi Lions All-State Band.
Individually and collectively, the band attained
a high reputation for outstanding performance and was
held in high regard throughout the area.
Among the things Mrs.
McArthur considers most rewarding about the Starkville
years was the experience of having both her sons, John
Erwin (Jay) and Christopher (Chris) under her direction
in the Henderson Junior High Band.
The McArthurs were very proud when both sons
chose to enter the teaching profession as band
directors.
After leaving Starkville in
1981, Mrs. McArthur taught in Picayune, Gautier, and
West Point where she retired in 1996.
Mrs. McArthur received
several honors in recognition of her contributions to
instrumental music in Mississippi.
She was the first woman in Mississippi to be
elected to membership in the American School Band
Directors Association (ASBDA) and Phi Beta Mu.
She was also the first woman to serve as director
of the Mississippi Lions All-State Band in which
capacity she served twice.
She has been recognized as the Phi Beta Mu
Outstanding Bandmaster and has served on the Mississippi
Bandmasters Association Executive Board.
She joins her late husband,
John, in the Mississippi Bandmasters Association/Phi
Beta Mu Hall of Fame- the first couple to be so honored.
