Most high school music programs follow a familiar script: large ensembles of orchestra and choirs, classical repertoire repeated year after year. St. George’s follows a different model. This unorthodox structure equips musicians with real-world experience at a young age.

With 298 upper school students, its music programs function less like a traditional classroom ensemble and more like a working band environment.

Standout singers from the choir get pulled into the bands– taking on solos instead of blending into roles. The result is something closer to real-world gigging than traditional music education, with young musicians learning to carry their part and having their passion encouraged beyond high school.

Since joining the school in 2015, Artist-in-Residence and Director of Bands Mr. Tom Link has been focused on preparing young musicians for real-world performances.

The Lodge caught up with three alumni who have taken their talents to the next level after St. George’s.

Graham Winchester ‘06 was part of the first senior class to graduate from St. George’s and, nearly two decades later, his name is still familiar in Memphis music circles.

He became interested in music when he was nine years old, after being inspired by his older sister’s boyfriend, a late ‘90s grunge rocker who was willing to let Winchester play his drum set. Winchester practiced drums on pots and pans for two years until his parents got him a kit, at which point he began collaborating with other young musicians.

By the time he arrived at St. George’s as a sophomore, he was ready for a consistent outlet for his talent. His band class consisted of only himself, Max Quinlan ‘06 and Tim Stanek ‘06. The group was small enough for them to shape it into whatever they wanted. They became a rock three-piece.

For Winchester and his bandmates, the Wolf River was a place where the outdoors and their musical education intertwined.
“We made a recording that was all natural resources, no electronics, just homemade wooden instruments and whatever we could find by the Wolf River to turn into an instrument,” Winchester said.

On campus, they performed as the Gryphon Ball Band during basketball halftime shows and pep rallies.

Otherwise, they’d perform under the name Copper Possum at local restaurants like Neil’s and Newby’s around town.

“[It] was kind of cool to get a bunch of gigging experience at actual bars and venues at a young age… it was unique,” Winchester said.

In class, their music director Mr. Chris Cooper taught the trio about different genres and styles of music at their request. They aimed to explore how all kinds of music work.

“We would listen to… The Nevilles and The Meters and bands like that from New Orleans, and then we would kind of study the style, and we would play our own version of it,” Winchester said.

Winchester now plays shows all around Memphis with countless different groups, most prominently Turnstyles, where he has performed as the drummer for over 20 years.

He has collaborated with Reigning Sound, The Compulsive Gamblers, Devil Train, Arc of Quasar and Jack Oblivion.
“A lot of folks don’t realize it, but so much good influence comes from right here in our own city that impacts the world,” Winchester said. “We really do create a lot here.”

Off the stage, Winchester works at Sun Studios, where he has given tours for 10 years, and runs Winchester Recording, an at-home studio.

Winchester also balances the studio sessions with his work as a real estate agent.

“The music and the real estate are both so compatible because they’re both jobs where you make your own schedule,” said Winchester.

Winchester most recently returned to St. George’s on March 6, 2026, to illustrate what he called the “rhythm of life” at a school assembly. He not only shared advice with the middle and upper school students, but also put on an engaging performance.

“I always recommend getting into the studio yourself and somebody like myself that can play multiple instruments, get the original music or the versions of covers, whatever you want to record, get it down,” Winchester said.

Alex Smith ‘25 is on the opposite end of the spectrum, graduating last year after attending St. George’s for four years.

His interest in music developed at two years old when given a ukulele, later taking drum lessons at School of Rock with Mr. Rory Sullivan. School of Rock is a performance-based music school that offers lessons and curates high school groups that rehearse multiple times a week for large-scale performances.

The unique band structure at St. George’s was a main reason he chose to enroll.

“I went to St. George’s because I sat in on an [American Music Ensemble] class, and I thought it was so awesome,” Smith said.
Similar to Winchester, Smith is primarily a drummer, although he mainly played lead guitar in the St. George’s AME.

“The thing about AME is that it’s literally the best modern music because there aren’t that many modern music ensembles in high schools that exist, let alone that are good,” Smith said.

Additionally, he was in the SGIS Jam Club, played acoustic guitar in chapel and joined the choir for a stretch overseas. Off-campus, he was in the School of Rock Memphis House Band for four years, where he gave lessons to younger kids and played more than 30 shows a year. He was the youngest inducted member at the time as a thirteen-year-old.Smith has multiple personal projects. He plays keys and guitar for Dream of Gardens behind his lead singer and friend Ava Tignor, a band that has released multiple singles to streaming services. He also does several gigs around Memphis with his longtime friend Owen Gooch whenever they’re available.

After graduation, he moved to Knoxville to attend the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he is currently minoring in Music and is part of a group called Kingston the Band.

Smith has also been in the recording booth with Tignor, working on an EP to be released under her name.

“The stuff I made with Ava a couple of weeks ago is my favorite thing that I’ve ever been a part of in the [recording studio],” Smith said.

One single from these sessions was recently released, titled “Method Acting”, and can be found on all streaming platforms.

David Ogle ‘20 is no stranger to crowds large and small as lead guitarist for “Almost Elton John & the Rocketmen,” a Memphis-based Elton John cover band that has gained international acclaim.

Ogle had an interest in music before attending St. George’s, obtaining his first guitar and beginning lessons when he was seven.
“I went to [Presbyterian Day School] and took an instrumental music class over there in first grade and fell in love with guitar just from that. I got a guitar for Christmas in 2008 and started taking lessons immediately,” Ogle said.

During his first year at St. George’s in sixth grade, there was no open guitar spot, but he waited and filled the spot as soon as he could.

He joined the Modern Music Ensemble, now known as the American Music Ensemble, when he was a freshman. That year, the band won the 2017 DownBeat magazine award for High School Outstanding Performances.

Ogle recalled how nerve-racking playing on stage was when he first played at chapels or school concerts. The biggest thing that helped him overcome that fear was the constant experience of playing for a crowd that was available to him.

“I was really kind of anxious to get on stage before then– now, I can do it just normally,” Ogle said. “I can get up in front of the FedEx Forum with my band. We’ve done that twice now [to] play Elton John’s music.”

Ogle also played in School of Rock for a few years during high school, but there were only about three shows a year. It didn’t help nearly as much as playing during chapel, where having a small-scale opportunity every week helped him overcome that performance anxiety.

“[St. George’s] gave me opportunities to play with the musicals too, over there. That helped me give my brain the capacity to learn so many songs at once and just memorize everything,” Ogle said.

Following his high school graduation, he attended the University of Memphis and played in their prestigious scholarship band, Sound Fuzion. He also recorded parts for a self-titled album in 2021 by a Californian band called Raue, a band that has since found success opening for the Plain White Tees and securing a spot in the upcoming Van’s Warped Tour ‘26.

Currently, his main focus is on Almost Elton John & the Rocketmen; balancing multiple local shows a week and long-distance tours.

The experience of three alumni doesn’t encapsulate the impact of the program as a whole, but three talented musicians can serve as a window into the program designed by Mr. Tom Link and Mr. Chris Cooper.

Link hopes to continue the development of these musicians for life at St. George’s and beyond.

“[They] get experience in what I would call real-world music, but they also get the training and technique and stuff that they wouldn’t get otherwise,” Mr. Link said. “We want them to do their best, and that’s a different benchmark for every single person.”