John Thomas McArthur, Jr. was
involved with bands in Mississippi from 1950
when he began playing trombone at Philadelphia
High School, Until his death in 1992. During his
senior year at Mississippi Southern College, he
began by one year at Macon High School, prior to
military service.
During his undergraduate years at
Southern, McArthur played trombone in the Pride
of Mississippi, spending many weekends on the
road with Kent Sills and the Southernaires,
where he played piano. It was during these years
that he met Edythe Moore, whom he later married.
Nine years were spent in
Waynesboro, during which the band program grew
in size and quality to be one of the more
respected Class CC band in the state. While
living in Waynesboro,
John and Edythe attended a summer session
at VanderCook College of Music, which both
consider to have been an important milestone in
their musical development. During the Waynesboro
years, the McArthurs saw the birth of two sons,
John Erwin (Jay) in 1963 and Walter Christopher
(Chris) in 1965. Jay and Chris followed din
their portent's footsteps, becoming fine high
school musicians and band directors. McArthur
also completed his Master’s degree at
Mississippi State University during this time.
In 1968, the McArthurs moved to
Starkville where he became high school band
director. Building on the successful heritage of
the Starkville band program, McArthur produced
fine concert and marching bands which attended
state, national, and international competitions
amassing numerous awards, including all-Superior
ratings every year at the State Band Festival.
The 1970 trip to the Tri-State Festival in Enid,
Oklahoma saw the “Band of the Blue and the Grey”
take home straight superior ratings in Concert,
Sight-reading , Marching, and Parade. The band
was named outstanding
in class in Concert and Marching and won
First Place in the Million Dollar Parade.
In 1971, McArthur’s Starkville
Band was the first Mississippi high school band
to travel abroad when it attended the Youth and
Music Festival in Vienna. While in Europe, his
band not only won Best in Class awards in both
Concert and Marching, but also placed second in
the International Parade.
McArthur served as President of
the MMEA-Band Division in 1970. He was a member
of the Board of Phi Beta Mu and its President in
1970. the same year, he served as Associate
Concert Director with the Mississippi Lions
All-State Band. He received the Medal of Honor
from the City of Vienna for Progress and
international Cooperation in Music in 1970.
McArthur was named Phi Beta Music Outstanding
Band Director in 1971, Outstanding
Secondary Educator in 1973, and Distinguished
Bandmaster of America by First Chair of American
in 1976.
For a number of years McArthur
was affiliated with Mississippi Music Inc.
before returning to teaching at West Pin in
1991, a position he held until his death on
September 1, 1992.
