Welcome
Mission Statement
“Creating a Culture of Musical Excellence through Pride, Vision, Innovation and Christian Values”
Welcome to our Website
Welcome to the Grove City Christian Band Program! We are going to do some excellent things this year including concerts, competitions, the Night of Fine Arts and other great things that are coming soon. On this website you can find information about the band, recordings, and performances that we have done in the past along with our performances this year!
Note: If you have any videos or audio recordings from performances in the past, please send them to the email that is listed below.
Go here to find more information about our school!
Notable Achievements
2023-2024
Marching Band
Hilliard Bradley Invitational (OMEA)
1st Place Class C
Best Visual in Class B and C
Lebanon Marching Band Invitational (MSBA)
2nd Place Class A
Teays Valley Golden Sound Showcase (OMEA)
1st Place Class C
Outstanding Percussion
Outstanding Auxiliary
Forest Hills Band Expo (OMEA)
3rd Place Class C
Best Percussion
Best Auxiliary
MSBA Class A Championships
Qualified for Finals with 9th place in prelims
Earned 9th place in Finals with a score of 63.6 which is the highest score in school history.
Concert Band
The following students participated in the Capital Honor Band Festival:
Noah Mandeville
Gillian Nobel
Logan Stanley
The following students participated in the District 15 Middle School Honor Band Festival
Erica Akers
Paige Little
Alex Payne
Annie Coulter participated in the All Star Brass Band
Noah Mandeville participated in the Columbus Youth Jazz Academy
The following students participated in HS Solo and Ensemble on Feb 10
The Brass Trio (Joel, Gillian, Saariy) received a II in Class C
Freshman Annie Coulter recieved a II in Class C
Freshman Annie Coulter recieved a I in Class C
Freshman Leah Cawley recieved a I in Class C
Freshman Joel Eicher recieved a I in Class C
Junior Saariy Semenov recieved a II in Class B
Sophomore Travis Marks recieved a I in Class B
Sophomore Gillian Nobel recieved a I in Class B
Junior Eva Claffey recieved a II in Class A
Junior Saariy Semenov recieved a I in Class A
Many of our talented musicians participated in our Night of Fine Arts. The Highlights Videos can be found here.
The night of Fine Arts Program can be found here.
Symphonic Band received a II (EXCELLENT) in OMEA Large Group at Thomas Worthington High School
The following students participated in Middle School Solo and Ensemble on April 13
7th Grader Erica Akers received a I
7th Grader Ian Hughes received a I
7th grader Adam Moore received a I
7th grader Eli Ratliff received a I
7th grader Elijah Steiner received a I
8th grader Cadey Sigler received a I
8th grader Paige Little received a I
7th grade Snare Duet (Eli Ratliff and Elijah Steiner) received a I
Concert Band received a II (EXCELLENT) in OMEA Large Group at Otterbein University
2022-2023
Marching Band
Lebanon Marching Warrior Invitational (MSBA)
1st Place Class A
Best Music
Best General Effect
Best Visual
Teays Valley Golden Sound Showcase (OMEA)
1st Place Class C
Outstanding Percussion
Received a Superior Rating, which qualified the band for State Finals!
Forest Hills Band Expo (OMEA)
1st Place Class C
Best Percussion
MSBA Class A Championships
16th Place
OMEA State Finals
Superior - First Superior Rating at States in School History!
Concert Band
Senior Graham Bentley qualified for and participated in the following ensembles:
The 2023 All-State Band
Columbus Youth Symphonic Band
OMEA South Central Region Orchestra
The following students qualified for the Capital Honor Band Festival:
Jacob Newsome
Saariy Semenov
The following students participated in All-Star Brass Band
Eva Claffey
Casma Mussi
Majarak Ruggles
The following students performed at Solo and Ensemble on January 21:
Senior Annay Downing received a II in Class C
The GCCS Saxophone Quartet (Danny Claffey, Travis Marks, Logan Stanley, Jake Wilson) received a II in Class B
Senior Casma Mussi received a II in Class A
Senior Annay Downing received a I in Class C
Freshman Travis Marks received a I in Class C
Freshman Gillian Nobel received a I in Class C
Senior Danny Claffey received a I in Class B
Sophomore Eva Claffey received a I in Class B
Junior Majarak Ruggles received a I in Class B
Senior Graham Bentley received a I in Class A
Symphonic Band received a II (EXCELLENT) in OMEA Large Group at Teays Valley High School
Many of our talented musicians participated in our Night of Fine Arts. The Highlights Videos can be found here.
The night of Fine Arts Program can be found here.
Symphonic Band received a SUPERIOR rating in the ACSI Virtual Large Group Contest.
Concert Band received a SUPERIOR rating in the ACSI Virtual Large Group Contest.
Noah Mandeville participated in the Columbus Youth Jazz Academy
A Combined MS/HS group travelled to Kings Island to compete in Music in the Parks and received a SUPERIOR rating.
Concert Band competed in OMEA Large Group at Capital University.
2021-2022
Marching Band
Lebanon Marching Warrior Invitational (MSBA)
3rd place class A
Best Auxiliary
Best Percussion
Read about this performance here.
Teays Valley Golden Sound Showcase (OMEA)
1st Place Class C
Outstanding Percussion
Best Overall Music in Class B/C
Read about this performance here.
Forrest Hills Band Expo (OMEA)
2nd Place Class C
Best Percussion
MSBA Finals
Qualified for finals with 10th place in prelims
9th place overall in Finals!
Concert Band
The following students performed at the Capital University Honor Band Festival
Danny Claffey
Eva Claffey
The following students performed at Solo and Ensemble in February:
Senior Olivia Allen received a I in Class B
Junior Graham Bentley received a I in Class B
Junior Casma Mussi received a I in Class A
Freshman Saariy Semenov received a I in Class A
Casma Mussi Participated in the All-Star Brass Band
Symphonic Band received a II in OMEA Large Group at Thomas Worthington High School
Concert Band participated in OMEA Large Group at Capital University
Many of our talented musicians participated in our Night of Fine Arts. The Highlights Video can be found here.
The night of Fine Arts Program can be found here.
The Symphonic and Marching Bands travelled to Nashville over spring break to perform and learn all about the music industry and history of the city!
Symphonic Band received an EXCELLENT rating in the ACSI Virtual Large Group Contest.
Concert Band received a SUPERIOR rating in the ACSI Virtual Large Group Contest and scored 1.3 points higher than the average band.
A Combined MS/HS group travelled to Kings Island to compete in Music in the Parks and received an EXCELLENT rating.
2020-2021
Concert Band
Symphonic Band received a SUPERIOR rating in the virtual ACSI music festival. We scored 2.5 points better than the average participating band!
Concert Band received an EXCELLENT rating in the virtual ACSI music festival. We scored 1.5 points better than the average participating band!
Symphonic Band received a II rating in the virtual OMEA music festival.
Concert Band received a II rating in the virtual OMEA music festival.
Sarah Karlich received a I rating in the virtual OMEA Solo and Ensemble festival. She played a high school class C solo as a 7th grader!
Junior Emily Andrick received a II rating in the virtual OMEA Solo and Ensemble festival.
Junior Olivia Allen received a III rating in the virtual OMEA Solo and Ensemble festival.
Sophomore Casma Mussi received a III rating in the virtual OMEA Solo and Ensemble festival.
The following students participated in the 2020 Virtual Capital Honor Band:
Emily Andrick
Graham Bentley
Natalia Flores
Evan Karlich
Kavina Kaati
Casma Mussi
Majarak Ruggles
The recording of their performance can be found here.
The virtual Night of Fine Arts can be found here.
2019-2020
Marching Band
Lebanon Marching Warrior Invitational (MSBA)
3rd place class A
Teays Valley Golden Sound Showcase (OMEA)
1st Place Class C
Outstanding Auxiliary
Outstanding Percussion
Outstanding Field Commander
Forrest Hills Band Expo (OMEA)
1st Place Class C
Best Auxiliary
Best Percussion
Reserve Grand Champion
Received a Superior Rating and Qualified for State Finals for the first time in School History
MSBA Finals
Qualified for Finals with 4th Place in Prelims
3rd Place in Finals - The highest placement in School History!
Concert Band
The following students participated in the 2019 Capital Honor Band
Zaria Jackson
Damaris Vanecko
The following students participated in 2019 OMEA Solo and Ensemble
Casma Mussi
Damaris Vanecko
Olivia Allen
Emma Norman
Brass Quartet: Damaris Vanecko, Natalia Flores, Casma Mussi, Zaria Jackson
The following students participated in the All-Star Brass Band
Zaria Jackson
Casma Mussi
Majarak Ruggles
Damaris Vanecko
2018-2019
Marching Band
Lebanon Marching Warrior Invitational (MSBA)
Best Visual
3rd place class A
West Clermont Marching Band Invitational
Best General Effect
Best Auxiliary
Best Visual
2nd Place
Winchester Classic
1st Place
2017-2018
Marching Band
Miamisburg
Best Percussion
Best Music
2nd Place
Mason High School Invitational
4th Place
Bellevue Marching Band Invitational
3rd Place
Bellbrook Invitational
2nd Place
MSBA Finals
9th Place Overall
The Band Scored a 63.0. The highest score in school history!
Meet Mr. Claassen
I have lived all over the place, but I have lived most of my life in Buffalo, New York. While I lived there I attended Hamburg High School and while I was in high school I discovered my love for music. After high school I attended THE Ohio State University where I participated in Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, Symphony Orchestra, and Men's Glee Club. My primary instrument is French Horn and I enjoy playing all instruments, but I especially love brass. My hope is that I can show each one of you why music is such an important subject/activity/whatever you want to call it and even if you do not continue playing your instrument after you leave that you use the life skills that we will learn in class together.
If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message at pclaassen@grovecitychristian.org