John Brewington can pinpoint the moment that directed the rest of his life.
Final bows were being taken at the conclusion of the musical “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” at Chrysler Hall.
Renowned conductor Walter Noona motioned to the Virginia Beach Community Orchestra to stand as the lights shone on them.
“Hearing that applause, that’s been my drug of choice from that moment forward,” said Brewington, 66, a ninth-grade percussionist at the time. “I pursued excellence in whatever I was trying to do. And I never looked back.”
For the last 40 years, Brewington has been stoked to pass on the lessons that music instilled in him. He will be the first recipient of a new honor: Champion for Arts Education. The Virginia Beach Arts & Humanities Commission will present the award among others at a 5 p.m. ceremony on Thursday at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts.
Like a lot of little boys, Brewington was drawn to the drums, but wasn’t the cool kid in a rock band. His mother taught ballet at her studio in Norfolk, and he absorbed classical music without realizing it. He was probably 5 when he overheard “The Jean Krupa Story” droning on the TV in the background. Brewington was mesmerized listening to the legendary jazz drummer play.
“I was hooked,” he said, and his parents obliged by gifting him his first drum set.
His hunger to improve drove him, whether he was part of the elementary school band, playing with the Richmond Symphony as a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, or in his current role as maestro of the Tidewater Winds Concert Band. Despite the early success, he knew that a career as a percussionist would be a long shot. Education was the smarter path, and a choice he embraced.
“The performing aspect fed my soul,” he said. “The education piece of it fed my need to transfer knowledge, to want to excite kids the way it excited me.”
He was never about turning every young person into a musician when hired by Virginia Beach Schools as an elementary school band director in 1985.
“I wanted to create better people,” he said. “Respectful. Cooperative. Collaborative. I wanted music to do what it had done for me — give them a direction. Even if they didn’t pursue music, all of those things help you in life.”
Erika Frydenlund plays piccolo for the Tidewater Winds, many decades after being part of the Windsor Woods Elementary School band under Brewington. She recalls his holding up a glass Coke bottle to his lips and blowing on it.
“If you can make a sound like this, you can play flute,” he promised.
“He made me love music,” Frydenlund said. “He was my favorite teacher. He was handsome and funny, patient and kind.”
Nineteen years after Brewington started teaching, he pivoted, seeking to make a bigger impact on more kids. He was promoted to fine arts coordinator for the city’s schools, overseeing curriculum and instruction for band, orchestra, chorus, elementary music and theater programs that serve more than 40,000 students and 185 teachers.
“We really helped transform our music program and our high school theater program in Virginia Beach, and we were able to reach an awful lot of kids,” he said. “Help teachers become better at their craft so they could help students. I’ve had an idyllic career.”
Managing a staff of 190, Brewington supported K-12 music teachers, dropping in on hundreds of performances. He helped to resurrect music education after the pandemic by advocating for modifying middle school schedules. That change gives students greater access to music education, which resulted in a substantial uptick in interest.
Brewington initiated a Young Persons program that requires fourth-grade students to attend a live symphony. He led the development of literacy-integrated arts programming through the Reading in Music Education initiative, which is in seven regional school districts.
Though retiring last year, he remains busy with the Tidewater Winds.
“Performing gave me access to musicians and conductors that I would have had access to had I not,” he said. “When you think you know it all, it’s time to get out.”
The award is humbling and incredibly meaningful.
“I recently played a piece by James Beckel, Jr., called ‘The American Dream,’” Brewington said. “I’ve lived it.”