Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • June 2015
11
Forty years ago, I attended my
very first TBA “session”—on the
golf course! As the newly appointed
Director of Bands at East Texas
State University (now called Texas
A&M-Commerce), I had begun my
duties with the annual Summer
Music Camp, which was staffed
with several successful teachers,
many of whom were East Texas
alumni. They convinced me that it
was an ABSOLUTE MUST to attend
the TBA convention in San Antonio,
where the highlights included a golf
tournament, tennis tournament
and a big Bar-B-Que at the Lone
Star Brewery! This sounded like
great fun and I looked at this as
an opportunity to meet several
directors and begin “networking”. I
was accompanied by Neill Humfeld,
the distinguished trombone teacher
and former band director, who had
many friends in TBA.
The annual TBA golf tournament
was held at the Pecan Valley Golf
Course. Although it no longer
exists, Pecan Valley was an iconic
venue that had hosted several major
championships, and promised to be
a most enjoyable beginning to the
convention. At some point during
the round, a golfer from an adjacent
golf hole walked over to the fairway
where we were playing. Initially I
assumed that he was going after a
stray shot until I noticed that he
was not carrying his club. As he
approached, I recognized that it
was Dick Floyd, whom I had met
at a conference the previous year.
He had spotted me and had come
over to welcome me
to Texas, with an
admonishment to
“be sure to contact
him if he could be
of assistance in any
way.” Anyone who
knows Dick knows
that his greeting was
completely sincere.
In the next few
days, I was to make
several more new
acquaintances who
were also to become
mentors, colleagues and allies in the
mission of music education.
Cut ahead ten years to 1985; I
was now Director of Bands at The
University of Arizona. A promising
senior music education major
asked for a meeting regarding
advice on career opportunities
and I encouraged him to pursue
a position in Texas. He landed
a band job in El Paso. When he
happily shared the news, my next
piece of advice was to seek out and
make friends with master teachers
such as Rick Lambrecht, Dan Black
and others, and to learn from their
knowledge and expertise. First
things first, however, “YOU MUST
ATTEND TBA!” The student that I
refer to in this rather serendipitous
set of events was Bruce Beach,
our current TBA President—and
the rest is history,
as they say. I am
honored
that
Bruce has invited
me to serve as this
year’s Featured
Clinician.
First of all, I am
not ashamed to
admit that I have
contributed very
few, if any, original
or innovative ideas
into my teaching
techniques. Any
success that I have achieved has
come from learning from others
through listening and observing:
most often in clinics, sometimes in
conversation, sometimes just sitting
across a dining table. The TBA
convention provides a venue where
one can take advantage of several
of these opportunities. The first
session I will teach at this summer’s
convention is entitled
Some Things
I’ve Learned at TBA in the Past
40 Years
and is an homage of sorts
to many of the wonderful clinics
and iconic clinicians that I have
been privileged to learn from over
the years.
James F. Keene, 2015 TBA Featured Clinician
The Clinic Tradition -
An Opportunity for Sharing
James F. Keene is
serving as the 2015
TBA Featured Clinician
at the Convention/Clinic
this summer.
He is presenting
three clinics — make
sure to attend.
See the convention
schedule on pages 16-27
for dates and times
of Professor Keene’s
sessions.
