ONE
The Spiritual Call:
Teach ChildrenThrough Music
At age seven, I received the clearest of all angelic sounds - a sound which was a sign from God that we are going to perform a duet throughout my life towards a mission yet to be determined. This angelic sound as a sign from God manifested itself through my survival of a life-threatening illness that should have easily ended my life in 1954. The illness attacked my body with a cunning force - a ruptured appendix that did not appear on repeated blood tests. After seven days of non-stop excruciating abdominal pain and no ability to keep down any food, I found myself in the emergency room of St. Elizabeth Hospital in Dayton, Ohio unable to walk and gangrene pouring from a ruptured appendix towards my lungs.
Emergency surgery was ordered at 1 a.m., and I clearly remember that awful smell of ether as the mask was placed over my face. As I went to sleep, I remember that my dreams were racing, and I could recall and control my thoughts in any order while floating through the air and look back at myself on the operating table.
When I awoke, I discovered a huge bandage across my abdomen and four shots of penicillin daily. The food included goats milk and lots of vegetables with few things I enjoyed eating. After one week in the hospital I returned home. My first event at home was to pass ball with my dad in the backyard. It felt great. I knew at that moment that God had sent a strong message, a message that was calling me to do important work while on earth. The years ahead would be a journey to prepare myself to understand that important mission and carry it out.
In 1957 my family joined the white flight out of the Westwood District of Dayton, Ohio to a new small town north of Dayton called Englewood. Although I did not know it at the time, this move would establish the "home place" for my family for the next four decades. I was in the fifth grade and out new house was not completed by the beginning of the school year. Thus, my family drove me daily back and forth to school from our old home in Westwood for a number of weeks into the school year.
Early in the month of September my mother received a notice about a meeting for parents and students regarding the beginning band instrument program. I was most interested in music and listened to a great deal of music at home. However, the meeting was on my father's bowling night and mother just received her driver's license and had never driven at night. The meeting was scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in the school band room which was 10 miles from our old house in Westwood.
Much to her dismay, my mother drove me to the meeting, and I had the opportunity that evening to select a band instrument - the alto saxophone. This one evening changed my life forever and set me on a long and wonderful journey. Forty-two years later I now see that this move to Englewood, Ohio was no accident. It would give me an opportunity to begin the journey for which I was called. As we drove home from the meeting, I remember how nervous my mother was driving in the night traffic. Repeatedly cars from the other direction were driving with their high beams on at all times. After the first few cars my mother began talking to these drivers, then she became angry, and finally she retaliated by trying to shine her high beams at the oncoming drivers. The problem was that with every car that frustrated her she could not find the small foot switch that would trigger her high beams. After the 5th and 6 th try I was laughing so hysterically that tears were streaming down my face. We talked about that night for years!
My mother was never big on driving, but on this one night her efforts to provide me an opportunity to play a band instrument was not by accident. It was clearly the most important night of my school years. This was all part of the spiritual journey. Fate, destiny, and energy in the universe far outweigh the wants and likes of individuals, groups, or large organizations. On this night I was to experience my first step towards a career in music education.
As I progressed in band on the saxophone, my first big break in music came in the summer between 7th and 8th grade. The high school band director, Dick Cool, needed additional players to complete his marching band instrumentation. Nine 8th graders were selected to travel tot he high school daily for the band. This required a teacher to drive us and pick us up during the actual school day. Prior to the beginning of school we went to band camp and were accepted as members of the Northmont High School Marching Band. What an experience!
Although the drive during the regular school day took its toll on us all, we were able to perform on Friday evenings at the football games and on Saturdays for parades. I can remember how much more challenging the music was for all of us, and all music had to be memorized by the Thursday of each week. We performed 5 different half time shows each season and a grand finale. Our pre-game show was a big deal as was our post-game show. We had fun, we traveled, and improved our musicianship.
Progressing through high school (1961 - '65) I found myself involved in band, orchestra, choir and drama. Solo and Ensemble Contest as well as all the large group contests kept me more than busy, and I found myself immediately successful in all these musical events. As the four years of high school progressed, I created a big band that later was named, THE KINGSMEN and with a neighboring high school big band THE KNIGHTS OF RHYTHM. We performed at many of the high school dances and proms in the Dayton, Ohio area. Both groups had a good sound, were inexpensive, and looked good on stage. This opportunity was my most creative golden nugget.
As I completed my high school years I thought that there were many signs, signals and mentors pointing me towards music. Although I was an Eagle Scout and was a student leader in church, I felt my calling was teaching in the field of music. As a member of the National Honor Society and seeking a career in teaching, the Northmont Teachers Association awarded me with their annual scholarship.
My band director, Dick Cool, awarded me with the John Philip Sousa Award. In addition, I was the student conductor of the band during my senior year and at the same time, conductor of the adult choir at my church. These accomplishments were the most powerful and helped me choose music as my focus in college.
Within months I found myself on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace College and spending my life in the Conservatory of Music for the next four years (1965 - '69). I as not sure why I landed at this institution, but it had a great reputation for music and music education; thus, being there was exciting. However, I knew that there must be another purpose for me being in music at this institution.
As I was the first child in the family to enter college life, all experiences were new and at times trying; however, my parents were proud to have their son at the college level and in a career he enjoyed. I was very aware that my parents would have preferred me to be in another fiepreferred me to be in another field that would attract more prestige and more money during my working years; however, I thought I could make a significant contribution to music and music education. My concern was doing well in whatever field I pursued. There were plenty of others seeking pre-med, math, science, business, and law, but music was unique, fulfilling, and challenging.
I was seeking new mentors at Baldwin-Wallace College and it took two years before the arrival of Frank Battisti and Galen Kral. For me, the arrival of both professors was the answer to many, many prayers. Both were dynamic, knew their stuff, and liked me. The energy that I felt from both of these professionals was at times overwhelming. Simply, I could not spend enough time with them, and I knew their appearance on the campus was part of my journey. After two years of searching for mentors, the arrival of these two professors was pure joy!
Playing alto saxophone in the wind ensemble and oboe/English horn in the orchestra, I found myself performing onstage with Aaron Copland, Vincent Persichetti, Warren Benson, Norman Dello Joio, Vincent Abotto, Siguard Rascher, Paul Creston and Donald Sinta. In the spring of my freshman year I participated as an oboist and English hornist in the performance of the famous ST. MATTHEW PASSION by J. S. Bach with the faculty and members of the Cleveland Orchestra.
As the orchestra closed with the final chord of the final chorale I remember feeling the presence of God within the silence that followed the final chord. This spiritual energy was followed by the angelic sound of applause I had ever heard. It took me over a week to recover from the impact of that spiritual experience. With this performance I knew my professional destiny was music, and that God and I had again touched spiritually.
With this experience I began to reflect through my past and determined that God and I had been performing a duet together on a long journey, and beginning with my near death experience at age 7, I was being directed on a spiritual journey. This was a journey that I was not controlling, but a journey that felt very natural. My destiny was yet to be realized, but with my participation in the performance of this great classical work by J.S. Bach, I felt comfortable that I was on the correct spiritual path.
Our music methods with Frank Battisti took place during the 1967-68 school year. Frank was outstanding in this class. There were twelve of us in the class and we were apostles for music education. Among many emotional events that year, the famous pianist from the Julliard School of Music in New York, Beveridge Webster, was scheduled months in advance to perform on campus in April, but no one could have projected that during the day of his evening concert scheduled on campus Martin Luther King, Jr. would be assassinated.
Although there was much upset about whether or not the concert should proceed, the decision was made to have the concert performed as scheduled. It was clear from the beginning that the artist was visibly upset, but he proceeded through the first composition by memory only to experience a memory lapse a few measures into the music.
He proceeded to perform the entire concert with music. This was a powerful sign for me and redefined the depth of character, the depth of spirituality, and the depth of caring necessary to be a classical music artist at this level of professionalism. I found myself bonding to this realization and knowing that from this spiritual depth I wanted to build my personal and professional life.
The culmination of my four years at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music was my student teaching in the fall of 1968. I found myself working at at Strongsville High School on a daily basis working with the elementary, junior high and high school bands. It was a great experience in that the marching band was in full swing both at the high school and at the college. I was asked to complete a marching band arrangement of the current pop tune "Love is Blue" which was performed by both the Strongsville High School Marching Band and the Baldwin-Wallace College Marching Band.
As the semester progressed, the Baldwin-Wallace College Marching Band was invited to perform for the Buffalo Bills/San Diego Chargers football game on Sunday, November 17, 1968. We had worked hard for a number of weeks for this opportunity. On the day of the performance we boarded the buses for Buffalo and there was a light rain in the air; however, by the time we arrived in Buffalo the rain was so intense that the field was like soup with few yard line markers visible at any point on the field.
Our conductor, Frank Battisti and a few seniors examined the physical condition of the field which was simply unbelievable, and the quick decision was made to travel back tot he campus. As a result, the prepared half-time show was never performed.
This was the biggest disappointment of my band experience at the college level. It took a long time to deal with this reality. I could rationalize that this was a test of my commitment and ability to put the hurt aside and go on with my journey in music. I have not had a similar challenge in music performance or music education, although over the years I have learned to take my mother's advice."when life gives you lemons, make lemonade."
As I was going through the fall of 1968 and the ups and downs of the marching band season, I met a freshman who marched directly in front of me in the marching band. Little did I know this freshman, Judith Ann Kreeger, would become my soulmate. We dated for one year and were married on December 26, 1969. I immediately knew that this was the girl for me, and this is why my journey lead me to Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music.
Judie was a most gifted bassoonist and clarinetist as she graduated from Nazareth Academy in Parma, Ohio and was on scholarship to the conservatory. This was the angels of angels and I knew immediately we were destined to be married and build a life together. This was God's doing and not mine. Our marriage would be God's will and I would go with the flow of God's energy and be grateful to know that my journey would now include a trio: God, Judie and myself. I completed my conservatory career by performing a senior oboe recital and performing as an English horn soloist with the wind ensemble. After four years I had performed all four passions of J. S.Bach and had successfully auditioned for a master's degree in oboe performance with Robert Bloom at the Hartt School in West Hartford, Connecticut. I was hired for a music teaching position in the East Harford, Connecticut Public Schools. The energy was flowing, the many signs along the pathway I had chosen were very clear, and the spiritual energy was very motivating.
As I made this transition from undergraduate student to a professional teacher and a masters student, I met many professional people from all walks of life who questioned my decision to follow a career in music. The major concern was money, prestige, and the return on the investment of time. Even during the graduation proceedings, the music education majors were seated in the back of the hall and the last to be called tot he podium to receive their diplomas. I felt that this dynamic was a sign of how hard I would have to believe in my mission in life and the depth of the challenges I would have to confront to accomplish my spiritual mission in life.
I knew at age 22 that my journey would be challenging, but I knew God had given me the knowledge, stamina, and self-confidence to "weather the storms" ahead which I projected to be many in number. These "storms" would be life-changing experience, and I prepared myself to make things happen no matter what the obstacles or problems. My mission was to create new paradigms and new opportunities for children and families via music performance and music education. With this mission my goal was to unite people in all aspects of life worldwide. I was to be an international missionary with a mission of love and a talent who could bring people together at all levels of the spiritual and human condition.
My mission would include several dimensions: professional, personal, family, inter-personal and intra-personal. Keeping these dimensions in balance and in sequence would be the challenge. having the knowledge to be effective at all times would be the main thing, and having the spirit to know why all these dimensions were important would be paramount in understanding the reason for my journey and my contribution.
The 1969-70 school year would formally begin my mission. I had prepared 22 years for this first step. It was to begin in Connecticut with the base at the Hartt School in West Hartford, Connecticut.
