Meet the Staff
Mr. Larry Royer
Director
The 2025 season will mark the 23rd at the helm of the Lampeter-Strasburg High School band program for Mr. Larry Royer. He also directs the concert and jazz bands at both the high school and at Martin Meylin Middle School. Prior to his return to L-S, he served as the band director of Ephrata High School from 1994 until 2002.
Mr. Royer is a graduate of Lampeter-Strasburg High School (class of 1990), and was a member of the Pioneer Marching Band in the late 1980s, the peak years of competition.
Throughout his musical career, his principal instrument has been the trombone, and, although he was never a drum major, he wishes he had tried out. He did, however, participate in a myriad of festivals including All-State Band.
After graduating L-S, Mr. Royer attended West Chester University, where he was a member of the Incomparable Golden Rams marching band. There, he met Mrs. Royer, a member of the color guard at West Chester. He graduated West Chester in 1994, and since then, has earned his master’s degree, also from West Chester. He has done additional graduate work in conducting at Messiah University.
Mr. Royer was among the group of band directors that created the Lancaster County Marching Band Coalition in 2014. For the 2020 season, the coalition acknowledged its expansion throughout south-central and southeastern Pennsylvania by renaming itself the Pennsylvania Marching Band Coalition. He ranks rethinking marching band and developing the jazz program at L-S as the two most important accomplishments of his professional career.
Mr. Royer lives in Strasburg. He has three sons, two of whom have graduated, and one of whom is a member of the L-SMB.
Josh Kirchner
Assistant Director
Early in August of 2015, in the blistering heat of sweltering summer day, Josh Kirchner knew he found where he was meant to be. The community, the culture, the commitment to excellence — the L-S Marching Band granted everything Josh didn’t realize he was missing. From that day on, his passion for music only deepened, leading him to join every ensemble L-S had to offer: concert, jazz, and marching band, full and pit orchestra, as well as chorus and Madrigals.
Josh served two years as the trumpet section leader for the L-SMB and as the treasurer for the band and the Tri-M Music Honor Society. Josh graduated from L-S in 2019. Later that year, he attended Millersville University and continued his marching band career as a member of the Marauder Marching Band.
Josh graduated from Millersville University in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education Mathematics. He is honored and thrilled to return the L-SMB as a staff member in 2025.
Benjamin Pontz
Assistant Director, Student Leadership Coordinator & Drill Writer
One day during the fall of 2007, Benjamin Pontz walked into a closet-turned-lesson room at Hans Herr Elementary School, where Mr. Larry Royer, in his first year as director of the fourth grade band—absolutely terrified—talked him into playing the baritone. Over the subsequent nine years, Ben would spend hundreds of hours in every band L-S had.
Ben graduated from L-S High School in 2016 after serving two years as drum major and president of the LSMB in its first two years as a member of the Lancaster County Marching Band Coalition. In high school, Ben also played in concert band, jazz band, orchestra, and pit orchestra.
In 2017, he returned to the program as a music and marching instructor. Since 2019, Ben has served as the Pioneer Marching Band’s assistant director. He also coordinates the student leadership program, working extensively with the drum majors. In addition, he is responsible for writing (and occasionally announcing) the program notes for the band’s field shows. Ben also began to write the band’s drill in 2023. The 2025 season thus marks Ben’s ninth as a staff member and thirteenth overall in the fold of the Pioneer Marching Band.
Ben graduated from Gettysburg College in 2020 with a music minor in addition to a double major in political science and public policy. At Gettysburg, he played in the Bullets Marching Band, with which he served as drum major for two years, as well as in the Wind Symphony, with which he toured Europe and recorded a CD. Beyond Gettysburg, he has participated in various musical endeavors at Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church. He holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Manchester, where he participated in the university brass band, and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School (which, for better or worse, had no brass band).
Amy Grier
Color Guard Instructor
Amy Grier has served as color guard instructor for the L-S Marching Band since 2019. She is a key member of the band’s visual design team and also works to select and train student leaders. Amy is a graduate of Lampeter-Strasburg High School, Class of 2014. She was a member of both the drumline as a bass drum player and a member of the color guard.
She was also a part of the indoor color guard program for all four years of her high school career, which included a period in which the guard ranked in the top 50 groups in the World Guard International Scholastic Open Class.
Amy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Systems Engineering in May 2018. After graduation, Amy was married to her husband, Jason, in June. She is thankful to have had lasting experiences in the marching band community in both high school and college, and is excited to be back in Lancaster to work with her Alma Mater.
Scott MacFeat
Percussion Instructor
Percussion Instructor Scott MacFeat joined the L-S Marching Band staff in 2018, but his career as a drummer has spanned more than three decades since 1986, when he was three years old. Scott took drumming lessons for 15 years from local jazz teacher Larry Donley and drummed his way through Hempfield High School as a member of Marching Band, Jazz Band, Pit Orchestra, Orchestra, Talent Shows, Pep Band, etc.
He graduated Hempfield in 2001, and, in the intervening years, has been teaching drumming lessons part time.
Scott graduated from Lancaster Bible College in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Ministry, and he completed a master’s degree in Biblical Studies at Capital Seminary, LBC in July 2019. Scott is Pastor of Refton Brethren in Christ Church.
Scott has been married to his wife Amanda since 2007 and have adopted their son Alex and daughter Morgan.
Ethan Moore
Music/Marching Instructor & Sound Technician
Ethan Moore joined the L-S Marching Band Staff in 2023. He is a graduate of Lampeter-Strasburg High School, Class of 2011. He participated in LSMB all four years, jazz band, and concert band. He is honored to be working alongside his former band director.
Julie Stinson
Assistant Color Guard Instructor
Julie Stinson joined the L-SMB staff as an assistant color guard instructor in 2024. She is a graduate of Lampeter-Strasburg and is currently a student at West Chester University, where she has been part of the Incomparable Golden Rams Marching Band in the color guard.
Maddie Miller
Pit Instructor
Maddie Miller is a percussion instructor for the Lampeter-Strasburg Marching Band for the 2025 season. Maddie is a 2023 graduate of Lampeter-Strasburg High School, where she played trumpet in the marching band for all 4 years. Maddie is now a junior at Millersville University, where she studies Music Education with a certificate in Music Technology, and a focus in trumpet. Maddie also serves on the state board of the Pennsylvania Collegiate Music Educators Association as Technology Coordinator.
