Music magic

Like many of you, I'm proud of what I do. I'm proud of my colleagues in the newsroom and throughout the newspaper organization who produce the Southeast Missourian. When we make mistakes, I'm proud of the way we make every effort to get it right. I'm proud of all the ways this newspaper, its owners and its employees are involved in their community. I'm proud of the worthwhile organizations and projects this newspaper sponsors. I can tell you in all honesty I have never been so proud as I was last Friday night when the Southeast Missourian sponsored the free concert by the U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America at the Bedell Performance Hall at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus.

I've been to most performances in Bedell Performance Hall since it opened. All of them have been outstanding in their own ways. When I left the band concert, I felt as though I had not only heard a first-rate, professional performance, but I felt good. I felt good about living in Cape Girardeau and having a facility like the Bedell Performance Hall. I felt good about being an American. I felt good about the men and women who unselfishly choose careers in military service. I felt good about an audience of nearly 700 individuals who showed their appreciation for the band members, the talented vocalists and the conductors.

A friend who went to the concert with us had just returned from an out-of-state trip. As we left for the River Campus, she said, "I have to warn you, I'm tired and cranky." After the concert, she said, smiling, "I'm not cranky anymore."

One of the highlights of the concert featured a solo trumpet performance by a wonderfully talented fellow with a master's degree in trumpet performance. His technique was flawless. I was amazed.

I'm no expert on trumpet performance. When I was in the eighth grade I transferred from a one-room school to the public school in town. Mr. English, the band teacher, encouraged me to join the band, knowing I had been taking piano lessons and could read music. He took me to the band room and let me try out several of the brass instruments. What he really wanted was a baritone player, I pointed out to Mr. English that the school bus dropped me off at the highway about a mile from my home, and lugging a baritone up and down the hill would be a chore. We settled on a more manageable trumpet.

So Mr. English arranged for the purchase of a used trumpet from Shivelbine's and for one of my classmate's older brothers to give me trumpet lessons. I remained a solid third-chair member of the trumpet section all the way through high school. I might have moved up to second or even first chair if I could have ever mastered triple tonguing. The trumpet soloist in the Air Force band had an amazing ta-da-ta.

I knew the band was first rate with the opening notes of a fanfare featuring the four French horns. French horns are notoriously difficult to play well, yet here were four of them being played expertly. In one piece two of the French horns took turns sustaining the melody. The effect was mesmerizing.

When my wife and I lived in New York, one of our neighbors in our apartment building was a French horn player for the New York Philharmonic. He would practice for hours with the mellow notes drifting down two floors. He told me once that his biggest hurdle to becoming a part of the philharmonic was learning to play as well during a performance as he did rehearsing in his apartment. I know that feeling.

Thanks to the university and other wonderful organizations, Cape Girardeau has an amazing array of visual and performing arts throughout the year. I heartily commend to you the Air Force Band of Mid-America. If you get an opportunity to hear it, don't pass it up.

jsullivan@semissourian.com<I>