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Longtime Hart High Band Director, Mentor Dies Of Cancer

Larry Thornton, a longtime band director and music leader at Hart High School, died Thursday in Valencia of cancer. He was 81.


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“After a long 10-year struggle to recover from a very debilitating stroke and a much shorter battle with cancer, our beloved Mr. Larry Thornton passed away (Thursday night) at his longtime private residence in Valencia,” according to a Facebook message from Hart band alum Ron Suffredini, who graduated in 1986. 

“He was surrounded by his wife, Lyn, and close friends, including our fellow Hart Band alum George Stone,” Suffredini stated.

Thornton, who retired in 1989, left a lasting mark on musicians throughout the Santa Clarita Valley, said Hart High alum Glen Marhevka, who played trumpet for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and recalled sending a platinum record when the band first made it big.

Marhevka, who attended Hart from 1986-89, said he formed a special bond with Thornton, who also played the trumpet. Like many of his former students, he stayed in touch with Marhevka throughout the years.

“He probably was one of the biggest influence on my life,” Marhevka said. “He really became one of my mentors in life, and really gave me such great opportunity to develop myself as a player and a soloist of my instrument.”

Anne Hendrickson, who graduated from Hart in 1977, said Thornton was a major inspiration in her life and the reason why she teaches band today.

She went to Fresno State, following the example of Thornton, who was a Fresno State alum himself.

“Everything came from the fact that he was a superb musician himself,” she said. “He wanted to close the gap between how students normally played and how an exemplary musician would play. He was extremely dedicated to the band and to the student themselves.”

Hendrickson went on to play the saxophone and clarinet on Broadway in “pit orchestras” and in big bands.

“I’ve been teaching for 21 years and I loved every minute of it,” she said.

“It was his tenure at Hart High School that laid the foundation for our successful arts program,” said Hart High Principal Collyn Nielsen, in a statement. His efforts helped to set the expectations for future generations of Hart musicians, who have gone on to win nine consecutive state marching band titles and garner many other awards and recognition throughout years.”


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Longtime Hart High Band Director, Mentor Dies Of Cancer

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.