By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
“School Band and Orchestra” magazine (SBO) honored South Portland High School Band Director Craig Skeffington in its December 2007 report,“50 Directors Who Make a Difference.” But when representatives from the monthly publication for band directors and music educators contacted Skeffington, he almost didn’t respond to their inquiries.
“I had entry fees I had to get in and I had to write college recommendations,” Skeffington, 41, says. “I had a lot of pressing things to do just to keep the program afloat.”  
But Skeffington, who has directed South Portland’s music program for 14 out of his 16 years as a music educator, explains he also didn’t want to be singled out.
“I’m proud of it,” he says. “It’s a great honor. Everybody likes to be told they’re doing a good job. The reality is I work for a big team.”
It’s a Monday morning and the 55 juniors and seniors in the high school’s wind ensemble have split up into brass, woodwind and percussion sectionals. From his office in the band room, Skeffington can hear the students play “Sinfonia Voci,” a “super difficult piece of music,” under the instruction of John Furman and Carol Furman, Carl Menard and his student teacher, Missy Shabo.
Skeffington oversees the 120 students in the high school’s music program, which includes two concert band sections, wind ensemble, jazz band, jazz ensemble, jazz combo and marching band. He also teaches music theory and Advanced Placement music theory.
South Portland has consistently performed well in competitions during Skeffington’s tenure. Last weekend, South Portland placed third in its class for large ensemble at the Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival in Boston.
The marching band has earned three gold medals in the Maine Band Director’s Association (MBDA) High School Marching Band competitions. South Portland’s jazz band has also won the Maine state jazz festival eight times.
Skeffington says the high school program’s success is due to the strong foundations built earlier in the students’ academic careers. He credits John Furman, the district’s instrumental music instructor, with fostering an interest in music at the elementary school level. From elementary school, the students grow as musicians under the instruction of Mahoney Middle School Instrumental Music Instructor Sandra Barry and Memorial Middle School Instrumental Music Instructor Jean Quinn, Skeffington says.
High school Principal Jeanne Crocker and Superintendent Suzanne Godin are another integral part of the team, Skeffington says. The South Portland Music Boosters, a parent organization, supports budding musicians by providing services that the budget can’t always cover, he said.
“If you look at the average high school program in the state of Maine, we’re not the norm and I’m smart enough to realize it’s a team effort,” Skeffington says.
When interacting with the mostly freshman and sophomore students in the concert bands, Skeffington says he tries to find that one thing that really interests the student without being too “heavy handed.”
Skeffington says he takes a similar approach when it comes to his own children’s interest in music. His daughter, Hannah, who attends Memorial Middle School, plays trumpet and trombone. Skeffington and his wife, Carrie, also have another daughter, Molly, who attends third grade.
“I almost make it a point to do less because I don’t want to be the pushy dad,” Skeffington says.
He says his wife is usually the one to say, “Hannah, you should practice your trumpet.”
From his own experiences, Skeffington knows it can be a challenge to hook kids on music, but if they find something they are interested in, they’re likely to stick with it.
Skeffington, who attended Old Town schools, says his it was his junior high school band director, David Saucier, and a bit of luck that put him on the path to a career in music.
“My junior high school band director was a big influence,” he says. “I was hanging out with the wrong crowd and it was more luck than anything else. He needed someone to play in the jazz band.”
Skeffington was playing the saxophone at that time and he said something just clicked and he realized he really enjoyed playing the music. When he got to high school, he initially didn’t make the cut for the jazz band, but then he heard the group needed a trumpet player so he switched instruments. He has played trumpet ever since.  
Although Skeffington says he does not play well enough to make a living “in the big world” as a trumpeter, he toured with the Artie Shaw Orchestra and played with the Glenn Miller Band, Barry Manilow and Natalie Cole. He still plays in two local jazz groups: the Portland Jazz Orchestra and the Seacoast Big Band.
Within the last five years, Skeffington has also become a nationally recognized composer after publishing jazz band compositions and arrangements. Both Warner Brothers and the Neil A. Kjos Music Company published his work.
“It’s been nice for me,” he says. “I’ve been writing for years and it’s nice to have that side of my career go to that level.”
Skeffington says he has used his connections to bring “big acts” and more musical opportunities to his students. Last year, the Grammy Award winning group, “New York Voices,” rehearsed at the school before performing with the Portland Jazz Orchestra.
On March 26, South Portland students will have the opportunity to open for Wayne Bergeron, a Los Angeles trumpet player with some 300 movie and television credits to his name including “The Incredibles” and “The Pirates of the Caribbean,” Skeffington says.
“The kids don’t listen to jazz as a rule,” he says. “To be honest with you, who does listen to jazz as a rule? Initially, the kids didn’t know who this guy was. We’ve sort of back-doored this – kids being interested in music because it relates to their lives.”
In his SBO profile, Skeffington states his proudest achievement as a music educator has been seeing former students go on to become music teachers.
“That’s a cool thing,” he says. “I really get a kick out of that.”