Iola band instructor lauded

Shiny plaques are nice but items of recognition are not what Iola’s band instructor, Matt Kleopfer, is working toward.
Even so, the awards keep piling up.
Kleopfer, the Iola High School and Middle School band instructor, was recently named Outstanding Young Bandmaster by the Kansas Band Masters Association The award is presented annually to a young director who has taught for fewer than seven years. Kleopfer has been at Iola since fall 2012.
“Awards are nice, but what’s exciting to me is that the band grew to so much notoriety that people are wondering who was behind it,” Kleopfer said. “I give it up to the kids. They are great players and they are the ones who make me look good.”
As the old saying goes, “practice makes perfect,” and boy do his students practice. This year his summer music program has grown, serving 150 students. Practices are at the IMS band room Tuesday through Thursday.
“The key to our success is through the practice they put in during the summer,” he said. “They are in charge of their own destiny.”
As the students grow older it becomes harder to motivate them to attend the summer practices. Kleopfer said it is important for parents to encourage their children to stick with it because it could open up scholarship possibilities for students later on in life.
“I’m trying to make sure they can be the best they can be and not overwhelm them,” he said. “I want band to be fun and stay away from burnout.”
He would like to host get-togethers for students to get know each other without “a horn in their face.”
Having an assistant band director will help him further his goals. Keith Mallory, a former college professor of Kleopfer’s, is already in the band room helping students. Mallory has marched in drum corps for many years, teaches jazz at Ottawa University and is a national snare drum champion. He will be in Iola every day to work with the jazz and percussion section.
Because the Iola band program has grown so quickly, Kleopfer said he had begun to run into problems.
“The more kids there are the harder it is to work with each individual every single day,” he said. “Having an extra person is so helpful.”
Mallory is experienced in competitive marching band and has designed world-class formations. His talents will come as a benefit to Iola.
“In the winter I really want to try to build and focus on a drum line,” Kleopfer said. “It’s been a goal of mine for the last several years.”

THE TWO instructors also have plans for the concert band. Kleopfer said he wants his concert band to turn up the level of difficulty on their music selections. The band did so successfully this year at competition that Kleopfer is confident they can handle more difficult pieces.
At the Mad Bomber Run Saturday proceeds from the $10 wristbands for the inflatable and carnival rides will go toward the Iola band fund. The program has a lot of plans for the upcoming year. Kleopfer hopes to have the band send in an audition video for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to be considered for the 2016 event.
On Friday the band association will recognize Kleopfer with his bandmaster award at their annual convention and banquet in Wichita. Earning the award will give him the chance to spotlight the success of his students.
“This is a good opportunity to try and convince people that it’s not a fly by night thing,” he said. “We didn’t just get good over night and that’s it. It’s something they’ll get to hear for a while. You ain’t seen nothing yet.