Greg Bimm retired in 2023 as Director of Bands at Marian Catholic High School, where he had served since 1977.  Under his direction, the Marian Band grew from 70 to over 280 members, earned hundreds of awards and honors, and earned the reputation as one of the premier high school band programs in the United States.  Included in the list of marching honors are 7 BOA grand national marching championships, 21 BOA national class championships, and 34 consecutive BOA National Finalist appearances.

In State competition, Marian won 42 consecutive Illinois State marching class championships and won the overall championship 18 times. The concert bands at Marian have performed at numerous major state and national conventions including the first BOA National Concert Festival and have remained undefeated in the Chicagoland Catholic High School Concert Band competition for 41 years. The Marian Band appeared in the Macy’s, Presidential Inaugural and Rose parades and is one a small number of programs in the country to have been awarded both the Sudler Flag for concert band excellence and Sudler Shield for marching band by the John Philip Sousa Foundation.

Mr. Bimm has received numerous National Band Association Citations of Excellence, was named the 1983 national winner of the ASBDA Stanbury award for young band directors and received the Sudler Order of Merit from the John Philip Sousa Foundation in 1991 and 1997.  In 1995, he was the first high school band director to be invited to conduct the Illinois All-state band.  In 1999, he was among the first to be awarded the “Mary Hoffman” Award of Excellence by the Illinois Music Educators Association, and in 2000 was recognized for his contribution to and support of arts education by the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education.

In 2005, Mr. Bimm was elected to the Music for All - Bands of America Hall of Fame and in 2006, was named a Lowell Mason Fellow by the National Association for Music Education.  In 2010, he was given the Distinguished Service Award by the Archdiocese of Chicago and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Illinois State University College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame.  In 2012, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music Education by the Vandercook College of Music and in 2015, he was voted one of two “Legendary High School Band Directors” by the readership of Halftime Magazine.

In 2019, Mr. Bimm was honored by the Midwest Clinic as a “Clinic Legend” for outstanding lifetime contributions to music education.

Mr. Bimm holds degrees from Illinois State and Western Illinois Universities and an honorary doctorate from Vandercook College of Music.  His professional affiliations include ABA, ASBDA, IMEA, MENC, NCBA, NBA, Phi Beta Mu, and Phi Mu Alpha. He is a past chairman of the Bands of America Advisory Board, has served on the Illinois High School Association Music Advisory Committee and has served as District 1 Band Division chairman, and state equipment manager for the Illinois Music Educators Association.

In constant demand, Mr. Bimm has written both drill and music for all of Marian’s championships and has performed as conductor, clinician, adjudicator, drill writer, and music arranger throughout the United States and Canada.