Testimonials

"Chris’s music and visual designs meet and exceed the expectations for our band. He truly meets the band where they are at with his design process. We are a small band of around 25 musicians and his designs led us to many top awards at local and state competitions. I am entering my 2nd year working with Chris. Having his expertise on staff both for music and marching has created unforgettable experiences and brought my band to new heights. "

-Keven Boyle
Band Director, Arcola IL

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"Chris does a fine job writing drill, particularly for smaller bands. The Galva Marching Band finally achieved 1st place rankings in competition, due in part to his drill. He wrote for us exciting, but easy to execute drill for our show. If there were any dilemmas with the drill he sent (i.e. needed a member removed or some mistake was made), Chris was very quick to fix. He also worked with us on pricing and gave us an unbeatable price for drill writing. I recommend Chris for any program who wants a partner in the process of show design, not just a guy to write drill."

- Joe Angelo
Band Director,  Galva IL

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"Chris did an amazing job creating a show that really fit my band. He was always quick to make changes for scenarios that would pop up during the season or to help with ideas for visuals which made the season run smoothly. He also works really well with the students. I highly recommend you to choose Chris to write your show for the next season!"
             
-Emily Henderson Datweiler
Former Band Director, Arcola IL 
Music Teacher , Indianapolis IN.

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"Chris does a great job writing drill for marching bands. He is helpful in discussing options with the guard instructors so that they can be successful in the show. I am a guard director and we have used his shows for the past two years. The guard drill is very doable and is integrated well within the band! I would recommend his services highly!"

-  Angi Dallas
Retired Guard Instructor, Mattoon IL

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"I had the opportunity to work with Chris during my student teaching segment. The quality of his drill writing and show design are matched only by the passion with which he instructs the students in the program. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I was able to work with him! "

-Ben West
Band Director,  Cayuga IN 

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I am a retired director after teaching 35 years of high school bands in Texas and Illinois. My greatest tenure was at Mattoon High School in Mattoon, IL for 31 years. As you can imagine throughout these years I have had a handful of drill/visual/music writers. My career started with stock music and drill written by myself. Then over the years when bands switched from Big 10 to Drum Corps style drills I hired drill and visual BOA/DCI writers from Texas, Illinois and Indiana. After a night practice, he asked if he could compose our music and write our drill and visual package the next year. I said yes. From that point, I never re-wrote again. He took the time to understand our students' musical and marching abilities and tastes to set them up with a show in all areas to succeed. He will do the same with your band program. He works with very small to very large sizes and varied musical abilities of bands that are competitive and non-competitive. Each band he has worked with the directors, students, communities and judges all say his shows fit their programs perfectly for them to succeed. In many schools he has actually come in and helped teach bands the drill/visuals/music. Each show will be customized for your band only. He will also maintain contact with you throughout your entire season to see if you need drill/visuals or music re-written. He will have everything to you in a timely manner when you stay in communication with him, which is very important during marching season. In addition to his writing and teaching, Chris also served our band as head sound technician, which is very important in today's new marching band world. He is very diligent to stay current with marching band trends of drill/visuals/music and sound. Chris Keniley not only customizes the show to fit your program, he will customize the cost of the show to fit your budget. His greatest payday comes from watching bands bring their shows to life and be successful. 
-Todd Black
Band Director Mattoon, IL