Directors

Message from the Directors:

You are about to embark on what will hopefully be one of the most memorable and fulfilling experiences of your high school career. We always enjoy meeting and getting to work with a new class. One of the most rewarding parts of our job is seeing these young people grow into young adults and watching the maturity process over 4 years.  The marching season is always one of our favorite times of the year.  We enjoy seeing the final product being put together for the first time at camp and watching the tremendous progress that is made over the course of the first two months of school.

Darren Kirsch

Mr. Darren Kirsch is in his 25th year as the Director of Bands at Grafton High School. He previously taught for one year at Glenvar High School and Middle School located in Roanoke County.  Mr. Kirsch graduated from Virginia Tech in 1995 where he received a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree with an emphasis in Music Education and Music Performance.  He is an active adjudicator and clinician in the state and has worked for several spring festival companies that have festivals in the Williamsburg-Virginia Beach area.

Mr. Kirsch’s responsibilities as the director at Grafton High School include directing the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic, and Concert Bands, as well as the Jazz Ensemble and the 180 member Grafton Clipper Marching Band.   He has also served as the Fine Arts Department chair for the past fifteen years.

Mr. Kirsch is a member of VMEA (Virginia Music Educators Association) and VBODA (Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association) and is a past instrumental chairman of District VIII.  He has been inducted into Phi Beta Mu and ASBDA (American School Band Directors Association).  Mr. Kirsch was named Teacher of the Year in 2006-2007 at Grafton High School and was recently was awarded the MIT Inspirational Teacher in 2014.  The Grafton High School Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at the Virginia Music Educators Association Conference in 2007 and again in 2014.  He currently lives in York County, Virginia with his wife Cena, his son Jackson and daughter Molly.

Gabe Stone

Mr. Stone has been a Band Director at Grafton High School since 2006. He teaches Concert Band Brass, Symphonic Band Brass and Percussion, Percussion Class/Ensemble, Guitar, and Music Appreciation. He holds a Master of Music Education degree from the University of South Carolina, a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Certificate in Tuba Performance from Shenandoah Conservatory. He studied tuba with Dr. Ron Davis and Michael Bunn and conducting with Dr. William Moody. e studied guitar with Shelley Brobst and Bob Morris.

Along with his teaching at Grafton High School Mr. Stone is a professor at the College of William & Mary. He directs the Early Music Ensemble and Brass Ensemble and teaches applied low brass lessons.

His professional memberships include VMEA and VBODA,Virginia Professional Educators, International Tuba and Euphonium Association, Early Music America, Historic Brass Society, and is a life member of Kappa Kappa Psi. Mr. Stone lives in Yorktown, VA with his wife Beth (Band Director at Grafton Middle School) and his twins Liam and Daphne.