Issue date: 4/29/05 Section: Opinion

Mark Ayoub

This year, I had the privilege of being able to work with Dr. David Stern, as both a member of the Hendrix Wind Ensemble and the Hendrix Jazz/Pep Band. Sadly, he is being pushed out next year for several stated and unstated reasons. For most of the year, this space has been an opinionated political rant, but I thought that in my last column of the year, I'd use this space to talk about what this school will lose by not bringing back Dr. Stern.

I first met Dr. Stern approximately a year ago at Spring Orientation for accepted students. He talked to me for a while about the school's jazz band and wind ensemble, specifically about the need I could serve as a low brass player. He was very convincing, but I was only half-listening, as Hendrix was way down my list of choices. Seven rejections later, I ended up at Hendrix.

At first, I was sure that I would join jazz band, but was skeptical about joining wind ensemble, as I had not enjoyed high school wind ensemble very much. However after several members bugged me to join, I joined. From the beginning, I could tell that I had made a good decision.

It was a relatively small group of students that were there solely because they wanted to; they wanted to give up three afternoons a week to play music. Dr. Stern was the director, and he was perfect. He brought a somewhat relaxed feel it, never afraid to make a joke, but also knew when to get serious and apply his vast knowledge of music to make the ensemble sound better.

His selection of repertoire was also excellent, choosing songs that were fun to play; something which culminated recently at the outdoor concert a week ago Tuesday which featured a variety of fun marches, dances, and other tunes.

This was also reflected in jazz ensemble, which was also combined with pep band this year. He was very good at feeling the atmosphere during basketball, knowing which songs would be a good choice to play at which time. He also gave several students in the ensemble freedom to play their own tunes every once in a while. Additionally, he wanted everyone to appreciate jazz. He frequently gave instructions on how to correctly play the music with the appropriate style. And he always insisted that everyone try a solo, even if the student held a low opinion of their improvisational abilities.

But most importantly, he treated the students like adults. When the pep band went to Memphis to play for the girls basketball team at the SCAC tournament, the band was simply unbelievable. It was the best performance of the year, and everybody knew it. However, he wanted us to get to the gymnasium by 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. game, and most of the band showed up 10-15 minutes late.

The following Thursday at rehearsal, the first thing he said was not praise of our excellent performance, or what a nice way it was to end the season. It was a criticism for being late, about how what we did that Saturday we could not have done in the real world. It was a theme he emphasized throughout the year. He wanted us to be successful in our future endeavors, whether they were music-related or not.

The director for next year has already been selected, and the ensemble has had a chance to see her, and for the most part is satisfied. However, it will not be the same as Dr. Stern. In all of the various music organizations I have been in, I have probably had approximately 10-15 conductors (some even with Ph.Ds) and none of them have come close to rivaling Dr. Stern. I for one will miss him next year, and I know that much of the Hendrix community feels the same way.

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