As president of the Massaponax High School Band Parent Association for 10 years, Trey Talmadge witnessed firsthand the impact that music teacher and marching band director Corey Koch made on students and families.
One episode in particular stands out to Talmadge.
Eric Christian Wagner was a wheelchair-bound freshman at Massaponax when Koch encouraged him to join the marching band. Talmadge recalls Wagner’s parents wondering: “What can he possibly do in the marching band?”
“Corey’s response was, ‘Get him in there and we’ll figure it out,’” Talmadge recalled.
By Wagner’s senior year, he starred in one of the football halftime performances. The band created a contraption to go over Wagner’s wheelchair that resembled a port, and they dressed him up like a knight.
“He drove his wheelchair around the field, and the theme of the show was centered around him being the hero,” Talmadge said. “Corey was all about creating that stage for people who might not normally have that space.”
Koch is retiring from Massaponax after 27 years. He’ll be replaced by one of his assistants, Kassie Phillips. Koch served as the first and only band director at the school after coming over from Courtland, where he spent six years before Massaponax opened in 1998.
Koch’s dedication to the school and his spirit of inclusion earned him a sparkling reputation in the Massaponax community, so much so that the Spotsylvania County School Board voted 5-0 last week to name the Massaponax band room in his honor.
Koch learned about the recognition on Facebook and said he was taken aback because his motives were always about the students.
“He was never about the music, about the performance or about the score that he got at a competition,” Talmadge said. “He was always about the growth and pushing kids to do better but making them feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves.”
Koch, an Adamstown, Pa., native, was a music education major and French horn player at James Madison University. His first job out of college was at Courtland, and he never left Spotsylvania County. He said teaching a new group of students new things kept him going.
“Every time I thought about maybe doing something else, it was always, ‘We haven’t done what we want to get done yet,’” Koch said. “There was always something else to do, and the kids always wanted to get better.”
Koch’s wife, Jeanne, is an administrator at Post Oak Middle School, and she, too, is retiring after 32 years.
Koch will continue to work at his current job at KBI Music Shoppe in Spotsylvania, but now as a full-time employee. He’s hopeful to garner gigs judging band competitions but is mostly looking forward to new experiences in autumn.
“My wife says there’s a whole life in the fall that we miss,” Koch said. “We’re going to find out what the fall looks like.”
Koch’s late summers and falls revolved around the band. From practicing in the parking lot in the sweltering August heat to traveling with the football team during postseason runs well into November — and sometimes December — the Panthers’ band did not miss a beat.
The marching Panthers were a rarity in the Virginia High School League under Koch because they weren’t just available for Massaponax home games. They traveled to every road contest, too.
“It was a true partnership,” said former Massaponax football coach Eric Ludden, who led the program from 1998-23. “His season coincided with ours. We’re doing summer practices, and they are, too. They have competitions and we have our games. We were always getting support from them. We’d sometimes be two hours away, and the band was there. It really meant a lot.”
Ludden said it was a “big boost” for his players to see the band travel. When they were late because of interstate traffic, his team would eagerly anticipate their arrival.
“I always felt it was really important for the camaraderie of the school,” Koch said of traveling to all the games.
Much like the football program it serenaded, the Panthers’ band was consistently successful. Koch helped lead it to 12 Virginia Honor Band recognitions. The band participated in an annual competition in Cary, N.C. and captured the Heart of Cary trophy six times for its parade performances.
Soon-to-be-retired Massaponax High School band director, Corey Koch, poses in the band room that is now named after him. Photo by Jeff Kearney.
“He was so dedicated to his job,” said Erica Jarnecke, the assistant band director at Massaponax. “He showed up in all kinds of ways, not just for the program but for other things in the school. He’s someone who is a mentor to the other music teachers in the county. Any of us can go to him at any time and he’s got advice, or he’ll lend an ear to help you with a problem.”
Jarnecke said Koch’s greatest attribute as a teacher was the emphasis he placed on guiding his students to be good people above all else, a belief that “good humans make good music.”
Talmadge was appreciative of that as well. He even stuck around in the Band Parent Association even after his children graduated because of the atmosphere Koch created.
He noted that Koch developed a music class at Massaponax for the special education department that became a model for other school divisions in the state. Koch also earned a state-level award for inclusion in music.
Talmadge said the band under Koch’s leadership was instrumental in helping kids overcome depression and anxiety as they found a place where they fit. He called Koch a “bonus dad” and a mentor to many students.
Koch’s friends and family threw him a retirement celebration for him recently, and more than 200 people attended, including former students and parents.
“It was just a real special run he had there and what he did for that program,” Talmadge said … “I can’t say enough good things about what he’s done both musically, and even more importantly, for those students.”
