This summer, when seniors Charlie Kubica and Ethan Rodriguez heard that longtime Chapel Hill High School band director Dr. John Carmichael would not be returning, they initially dismissed it as a rumor.
Kubica, a drum major, first received messages about the news while attending Governor’s School at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. Former marching band students told him Carmichael was leaving.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez, the band captain and a trumpeter, was on vacation in San Francisco when his father and sister informed him that Carmichael had accepted a position as band director at Carrboro High School.
Both students were skeptical. Only a month earlier, Carmichael had conducted the band during the school’s graduation ceremony.
Hoping to confirm the truth, Rodriguez checked the old marching band group chat on Discord. There, he learned that after 14 years at Chapel Hill High School, Carmichael had indeed taken on the new role at Carrboro High School.
The Chapel Hill High band program, however, was not without a director for long. Just a few weeks later, the school district announced that Noah Marcus had been hired to replace Carmichael.
Marcus previously taught at Chatham Middle School and earned his degree in band education from Appalachian State University. He studied alongside Wyatt Bradford, Chapel Hill High School’s orchestra director.
Eager to begin working with high school students, Marcus said the transition to high school has offered him an opportunity for growth.
“The idea of moving from the middle school level into the high school level with more mature musicians was a big factor in choosing Chapel Hill,” Marcus said. “I felt like I did almost all that I could do at the middle school level and wanted to see what I could bring to the high school level as well.”
He also expressed enthusiasm for the marching band competitions, which he believes provide valuable feedback for students.
“Essentially, you perform the show that everybody sees at halftime in front of a panel of judges,” Marcus explained. “They’ll judge you on how well you do visuals, how good you sound and the general effect of the show itself. Then, they total your score and place you into a category, with box six being a 95 and above and box one being below a 60.”
While Rodriguez and Kubica were initially saddened by Carmichael’s sudden departure, they are happy to be learning from and working with Marcus.
“I think Mr. Marcus is more down-to-earth with the students. He knows more about social media and things students are into,” Rodriguez said. “Doc sort of had an understanding, but he was more about going with the flow. Mr. Marcus really connects with students.”
Kubica echoed Rodriguez’s sentiments.
“Mr. Marcus is more personable and easier to talk to than Doc. I saw Doc as this larger-than-life band director,” Kubica said. “That grandiose personality worked well in certain areas—like giving our jazz band concerts a unique vibe—but it made him harder to approach. I don’t have that issue with Mr. Marcus.”
With the excitement of a fresh start, the Chapel Hill High band program is looking ahead to a new chapter under Marcus’s leadership.
