John Wright 2023 Award of Excellence Recipient

John Wright is a lifelong educator, musician, composer, and worship leader with more than four decades of experience in music performance, education, and ministry. Raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, he began his formal musical training in 1974 on trombone, studying under Derl Sanderson, principal trombonist of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, and later under George Broussard while attending East Carolina University, where he earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Education.

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In 1978, Mr. Wright expanded his musical focus to guitar, studying with Frank Jones in Greenville, North Carolina. His guitar studies led him to adopt and incorporate the CAGED fretboard system into both his personal performance and teaching philosophy. In 1985, he marched with Spirit of Atlanta Drum & Bugle Corps, further shaping his musicianship and performance background.

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Since 1986, Mr. Wright has been actively leading praise and worship music on guitar and keyboards. His career in music education spans 36 years, teaching middle school and high school band in both public and private school settings, as well as 15 years teaching string education. His string pedagogy includes violin studies with Susan Greznikowski of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and Pam Kelly of the North Carolina Symphony, along with Suzuki training at the ECU Summer Suzuki Institute.

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In 1992, Mr. Wright founded the middle school and high school band programs at Northwood Temple Academy, where he also taught theater arts and Bible. From 1992 to 2025, he served as a primary worship leader on guitar and keys at the academy. In addition, he spent 18 years as the Northwood Temple Church Orchestrator and Director, while also leading youth praise and worship.

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An accomplished composer and arranger, Mr. Wright has written over 600 orchestrations and composed 20 original musicals, including full scripts and orchestrations, for high school performance. He has also produced two feature-length films for the school’s drama department. In 2006, he continued his theological education at Grace College of Divinity.

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From 2014 to 2020, Mr. Wright served as Minister of Music at Lebanon Baptist Church, overseeing both a traditional choir-based service and a contemporary praise band service. In 2020, he authored and published The Wright Band Method, a comprehensive band method series available through The Wright Band Method and J.W. Pepper.

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In 2023, Mr. Wright was selected to receive the Award of Excellence from the NC Southeastern Band Masters Association, recognizing his outstanding middle school and high school band performances at state festivals, his curriculum development through The Wright Band Method, and his educational instrumental videos shared on his YouTube channel, King’s Court Musician (John Wright).

Mr. Wright and his wife of 37 years reside in Mooresville, North Carolina. They have one son, a daughter-in-law, a granddaughter, and are joyfully awaiting the arrival of another granddaughter.