High School Orchestra

Wesley K. DeSpain is a native of Wichita, Kansas. His early musical inspiration can be traced back to his musical family, his clarinet teachers, Dick Helt and W. James Jones, his high school orchestra director, Bob Gleason, and his involvement with the Wichita Youth Symphony program. He became a member of the Wichita Symphony's clarinet section in 1984 and performed with the WSO for twenty-five seasons; he also performed as a clarinetist for two decades in productions of Ballet Wichita's The Nutcracker, a production that he conducted in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Concurrent with his time as a member of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, DeSpain taught instrumental music for USD 259 from 1984-86, directed youth and music ministries from 1986-2007 at First Bible Baptist Church in Wichita, and was Interim Director of Orchestras at Wichita State University from 2004-06.

After completing his doctoral studies at the University of Oklahoma, Dr. DeSpain directed the high school and middle school orchestras of the Derby Public Schools from August 2010 to May 2024. He served as assistant chair of the KMEA All-State Orchestra from 2012-14 and chair from 2014-2016 and 2020-2022. He conducted the Friends University Community Orchestra from 2010-2014 and the Wichita Symphony's Youth Repertory Orchestra from 2014-2022.

Dr. DeSpain is Music Director and Conductor of the Delano Chamber Orchestra and director of the Delano Summer Youth Orchestras program; the program now involves four orchestras and over 160 students. After his retirement from Derby Public Schools in May 2024, he began serving as Pastor at MorningStar Community Church in Wichita.