Always insightful and creative, John's music will engage, challenge, and entertain listeners. His passion comes through in his writing, and it's always refreshing to experience music like this.

During my days of working with the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum Corps I had the opportunity to meet and work with many fine upcoming musicians, John McFarland is one of them!  I have witnessed the growth of John over the years, and I’m very happy to say he has made it and then some!  It all reflects in his compositions of original band shows as well as indoor marching percussion shows.  Check it out for yourselves and enjoy!  I couldn’t be more proud of John’s achievements thus far!  Congrats to you my friend!!

John has always been a consummate professional. His diverse musical tastes are revealed time and again in his work, and having pro engraving skills on top of honest to goodness creativity make him a rare bird. Big thumbs up for John!

John McFarland’s arrangements and original works written for Eastside Fury are exceptional.  His use of unique rhythmic texture and variety in the battery voices offer intrigue to his well crafted soundscape from the front ensemble.  His orchestration of electronic textures gives the front ensemble a unique voice and compliments his acoustic keyboard and percussion palette.

John McFarland was an instructor for my group, NorthCoast Academy for a number of years.  In that time, I had the privilege of getting to know John as a teacher and as a writer.  He is an exemplary educator and an excellent composer.  It is my goal to someday commission a piece from him for one of my bands.

John is an excellent percussion arranger as well as a great team member with our show design team for the benefit of our Pioneer Corps' youth. He has given us through his writing a fresh new sound for the percussion line as well as for the front ensemble. His positive attitude and expertise in music are attributes that any music program can benefit from.

At Flushing High School, we have had a wonderful experience commissioning John Max McFarland for our marching season competition shows. John is an excellent communicator and listens carefully to our requests regarding ability level, musical connection to visual elements, and constructing an overall show package that fits our ensemble well. His willingness to collaborate independently with our drill designer, percussion instructors, and wind instructors was invaluable.  Working with John has made creating a custom show very simple and manageable.

John arranged a custom marching band show for our group.  We gave him our concept, group size, and even told him about our strongest sections and he managed to work it all in to one outstanding show that highlighted our strengths.  John was easy to work with and responded immediately to questions and comments throughout the process.  On the business end, he was flexible, open, and prompt.  His composition was creative and modern yet educationally sound.  Students, parents, fans and staff enjoyed his show from day one and we are excited to work with him again next year!