James Perry · 2023 Spark Award Winner

As a child growing up in Portsmouth, Virginia, where his father served in the Navy and his mom was “heavy into church,” James Perry fell in love with music. On Saturday mornings, family members would do their housekeeping chores with the radio blaring out R&B and gospel music. Sundays would bring them the sound of the organ and voices coming together in song. As a young teen James wanted to be the “cool guy” playing the drums; his mother suggested that he choose something more practical. So he chose – and then came to love – the alto saxophone. At high school he was part of what he remembers as a “phenomenal” band and by the end of his time there James was the band’s drum major, charged with keeping the tempo and leading the elegant, high-stepping processions characteristic of many Black bands. At Norfolk State University he was again part of a terrific band, the Spartans, known for distinctive head gear and what he calls a “unique” melodic sound. 

Still, it took a while for him to find his way to music as a career. Having majored in early childhood education, James worked initially as a school mental health worker. Moving to Washington for wider horizons, he found a place at St. Coletta of Greater Washington’s school for children with intellectual disabilities. Again, he loved his work, celebrating the many “small wins” made by his students. But the school is just a few blocks from Eastern High School and it wasn’t long before James was volunteering there and in 2006 being hired as co-director of the band. Two years later he became the band’s director. Since then, James has been encouraging students to achieve excellence not just musically but in everything they do. He loves sending his students off to higher education, often with scholarships because of their musical skills, and welcoming them when they come back to visit “with their college swag on.”

And he loves as well cultivating a relationship between the Eastern band – the “Blue and White Marching Machine” – and the Capitol Hill community. He was astonished last fall when an article in the Washington Post about the band had an unexpected effect – donations began pouring in from all over, unsolicited money that allowed for the long-delayed purchase of the new uniforms band members will wear this year as Eastern High School celebrates its centennial. No one will look on with more pride than that spark of inspiration, James Perry.