Tuesday, April 19, 2011

A moment of pride

This weekend, I went back to my alma mater for the Centennial celebration of the band. Good times were had, old friends and acquaintances who I hadn't seen in forever were renewed, and it was just a great weekend. I can't wait to do it again!

Sunday afternoon there was a concert. All of us alumni got together and played a few selection, each conducted by the former directors that were there. Most of my fellow alumni aren't freaks of nature who practice religiously whether they have anything to perform or not, so it was actually a bit of a surprise that it sounded as good as it did. Admittedly, though, some of them were hurting after the rehearsals...lol

Two big things happened at the celebration, though. The band room was named after the current director, who has been there since 1983, and is widely recognized as one of the best college directors in the country.

There was a moment of pride for me, though. One of my former students had the opportunity to conduct the band. He says that he won some kind of contest in his conducting class for the opportunity, which just adds to the impressiveness.

Watching him, I felt like a proud papa. I've taught quite a few students in my short career, but he was one of the truly gifted ones, and it was good to see him excelling at the college level. It nearly brought a tear to my eye.

Now, when he graduates next year, he better not come after my job...lol

2 comments:

Pearl said...

it's always nice to see old friends again. hang out, and in your case, play with the band again. I miss my friends:(

Mystery Man said...

yeah, hopefully we can do this on more of a regular basis instead of once every 100 yrs...lol