Greg Bimm arranger

Greg Bimm (Chicago Heights, Illinois) served as Director of Bands at Marian Catholic High School from 1977 through 2023. Under Bimm’s direction, the Marian Band grew from 70 to over 280 members and built a reputation as one of the premier high school band programs in the U.S. Honors include 7 BOA Grand National championships, 21 BOA National class championships, and 34 consecutive BOA National Finalist appearances. Marian has won 42 successive Illinois State marching class championships. The concert bands at Marian performed at the first BOA National Concert Festival and at numerous other state and national conventions. They have been undefeated in Catholic school concert contests for 41 years. They’ve appeared in the Macy’s, Presidential Inaugural, and Rose parades and are among the few to receive both the Sudler Flag for concert band excellence and the Sudler Shield for marching band by the John Philip Sousa Foundation.

Bimm has received numerous NBA Citations of Excellence, the national ASBDA Stanbury Award for young band directors (1983), and twice the Sudler Order of Merit from the John Philip Sousa Foundation. In 1995, Bimm was the first high school band director to conduct the Illinois All-State band. Bimm received the Mary Hoffman Award of Excellence from IMEA and received career recognition from the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education. He was named a Lowell Mason Fellow by the NAfME received the Distinguished Service Award from the Archdiocese of Chicago. Bimm was inducted into the inaugural class of the ISU College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame, the Distinguished Alumni at LaSalle-Peru Township High School, and the MFA-BOA Hall of Fame. Bimm received an honorary doctorate in music education from the Vandercook College of Music and the Chicagoland Music Educator John Paynter Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019, Bimm was honored by the Midwest Clinic as a Clinic Legend and has been a member of the ABA since 1994.