Page 7 - Bandmasters Review - 2017 June
P. 7
TBA News
Year, Dr. Matthew McInturf, we will celebrate TBA’s 70th during the convention. TBA band directors participated in
Birthday. I encourage you to make time in your schedule a Director’s Marching Band which rehearsed outside in the
to participate in the party! Texas heat, while learning from the clinician. As you can
I invited Al Sturchio, former TBA Executive Director, imagine, the popularity of this format did not last long and
to share some of his memories from the early days of the sessions moved inside to cooler surroundings!
TBA (pages 6-7). Al was a student at St. Mary’s University Looking through all of our TBA convention programs
when he participated in the very first TBA Convention as a from 1950 to the present day, one thing stands out to me:
member of the reading band. Texas band directors from the early days through the
As military musicians were returning from World War II, present have always been passionate about improving
many attended college and became school band directors. their teaching skills. Throughout our history, TBA has
As band programs developed, directors felt a need to invited the most successful band directors from Texas and
continue to improve their teaching skills and to share across the U.S. to share their expertise with convention
ideas with peers. This lead to the formation of TBA in attendees. Due to the outstanding vision from Past TBA
1948. In the beginning, the TBA Convention was labeled Presidents and Executives, our association has grown
as “New Music-Marching Band Clinic”. Since there was no from humble beginnings in 1948 to become the largest
access to recordings of music, directors depended entirely band director association in the U.S., presenting the most
on learning about new music during the Reading Band comprehensive summer convention.
sessions. In order to learn the most up-to-date marching Plan to attend the convention this year and become part
techniques, experts were invited to present their ideas of the TBA 70 - year history. See you in San Antonio!
Bandmasters Review • June 2017 5 Texas Bandmasters Association
