Passing the baton: Nall to step down from directing Cape muny band

Tonight, Ron Nall will step down as director of the Cape Municipal Band, after 26 years in the position.

He�ll pass the baton to Neil Casey, former band director at Central High School, who will become the 10th municipal band director.

�This was not an easy decision,� Nall said. �I love doing this.�

But, he said, it�s time.

Nall said his eyesight is beginning to fail, and doesn�t want that to interfere with the band�s performances.

He will remain with the band, playing the French horn, where he started in 1970.

�I�m hoping to get 50 years in,� Nall said, adding, �We�ll see.�

Nall gave his last full concert last week, he said, at the Capaha Park bandshell, the Dan Cotner Amphitheatre.

Concerts are held, free of charge, weekly throughout the summer at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays at the bandshell, according to the city�s website.

Nall graduated from high school in his hometown of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, then studied music at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.

Nall previously told the Southeast Missourian he�d decided as a high-school sophomore to become a band director.

Then he majored in music as a college student, later earning his master�s in the subject and directing bands at area high schools from Woodland High School in Marble Hill, Missouri, to Caruthersville High School to Potosi High School.

After 12 years as a band director, Nall went to work for Central High School in Cape Girardeau, and in 1970 joined the municipal band.

Nall retired from Central in 1998.

Nall�s successor, Casey, said it�s quite an honor to hold the position, especially in light of Nall�s service to the band.

�He�s the longest tenured director the municipal band has had,� Casey said.

The municipal band came under city sponsorship in 1927, according to the Southeast Missourian archives.

Casey taught band at Cape Girardeau public schools for 29 years, and was band director at the high school for the last 14 years of his career before he retired, he said.

This is Casey�s 36th season with the band, he said.

�I�m a clarinet player,� he said.

He discovered a capacity for playing music when he was a child, he said, and followed his older siblings into the school band.

The municipal band board offered Casey the position, he said, and he�s not planning any dramatic changes.

�We want to be a high-caliber musical ensemble, and be entertaining for the audience,� Casey said. �We want the audience to enjoy our performance, and we want to enjoy performing for them.�

Casey said although they have a cast of regular attendees, they always want to invite patrons of good band music to come by and listen.

Casey, who grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, said it�s unusual to have community support of a municipal band � typically they�re volunteer enterprises, not typically sponsored or supported.

�We think it�s an asset to our community, like a lot of neat things about Cape,� Casey said.

Band president Eric McGowen, who also serves as information technology director for Cape Girardeau County�s government, said in an email, �Ron�s extraordinary tenure of 26 years as director of the Cape Municipal Band is unprecedented, and is unlikely to ever be surpassed. His outstanding leadership and dedication has been very much appreciated by the citizens, and musicians, of Cape Girardeau. We are grateful for all that he has done, and hope that he remains involved with the municipal band in seasons to come.�

McGowen said tonight�s concert will be dedicated to Leland �Freck� Shivelbine, who died Sunday at age 92. Shivelbine was instrumental in getting the bandshell built years ago and was also involved with the municipal band through the years, McGowen added.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630