One of a kind

[Brad361]

This was my high school band director, one hell of a great teacher and musician. Thirty years of volunteer teaching AFTER retirement, pretty extraordinary.
Definitely an "old school, no nonsense" somewhat demanding teacher, who also understood that music should be fun....though he probably would not have admitted that. My first contact with "Mr. G" was as a nervous high school freshman auditioning for the top concert band, he walked into the band room looking every bit like a German World War II Stalag 13 commandant. He scared the hell out of me, I later realized he was just one of those teachers who expected maximum effort and results. (I did pass the audition, although you would never have been able to tell from his demeanor).
A really great teacher, who I was fortunate enough to have as an example of a traditional "results, not excuses" musician.

R.I.P. Mr. G.

http://www.tribtown.com/2017/07/01/beloved_seymour_music_teacher_passes_away/

Brad
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When asked if he always sounds great:
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[DaveH]

Sounds a lot like a description of my father, also high school band director for 33 years. He knew how to bring out the very best in everyone, both musically and in regard to work ethic, discipline, and personal character.

In this case, he was "Mr. H."

[deleted_user_02066fd]

I had a no nonsense band director my four years of high school. He was a Holy Cross Brother and also served as the dean of discipline.
We butted heads a lot my first few years and eventually I stopped being so hard headed. I'm Irish/Italian and that's a deadly combo for being stubborn. My wife sometimes calls me Cabbadost. Italian word for hard headed.
I ended up teaching band/string for most of my 34 years and I can't count how many times I channeled him in certain situations.
I reconnected with him 4-5 years ago. I wrote him when I retired and thanked him for everything he had done. I also had a great classroom teacher as an 8th grader, the finest teacher I've ever known. When he retired I also wrote and thanked him.

[Ed Hernandez]

Beautiful story Brad. Thx for sharing.
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[jsample]

Now that is an awesome story. Thanks for sharing. I grew up with a music teacher dad. That is why I was able to be in band in second grade. Band and choir teachers have a tremendous impact on students lives.
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