Bruce Frahm's
Trombone page
I have played trombone since 5th grade. For the amount of time I've spent playing, I'm not proficient, but enjoy the instrumental music outlet. As you age, you find the lungs and chops ain't what they used to be!
My public school band director, Bill Beck, was a legend in northwest Kansas for more than 3 decades. He directed my brother Ron who graduated from Colby High School in 1951, as well as my niece who graduated in 1980. Bill's music skills were only a part of his teaching, as he emphasized integrity as well. Christmas parades and Band Day trips to Colorado, Kansas and Kansas State Universities are among highlights of those high school days.
My first year in concert and stage bands at the junior college in Colby were under Dennis Bozarth, who left the end of that year to work at a music store in Salina, I believe. My sophomore year was under Lowell Graham, fresh out of UNC in Greeley. From Colby, Lowell went on to the Air Force and has made quite a name for himself in the Air Force bands. The two years of stage band were distinctly different. Bozarth's literature choice was a fairly steady diet of standard arrangements of dance band and pop-style music. Little that was terribly taxing, and all very danceable. Graham's choices were largely avant-garde jazz charts. There were numerous ad lib solos and notations such as "16 bars in F, Rumba style"..... Pretty challenging for a non-music major. We did very few dances that year, but jazz fans liked us and while I couldn't hold up my end of things, I did learn quite a bit.
Aside from school band, I played in the Maverick band in the 70s. This is a group of mostly Shriners who perform mainly marches in southern Nebraska. I also was part of an informal brass choir doing Christmas carols in December in downtown Colby. For a few years I played in the Sunflower Brass Quintet, along with 3 music majors and a music therapy major! I was out-of-league, but this group taught me the value of PRACTICE. I very much enjoyed the variety of music we performed, and was especially fond of the simplicity and power of Renaissance-era literature. We even played at Carnegie! (Carnegie Arts Center in Goodland, that is) Currently I am principal trombone in the Pride of the Prairie Orchestra and president of its board of directors.
Pride of the Prairie has an email reflector you can subscribe to. It's mainly intended for rehearsal info and socializing among orchestra members but has some humor and information of interest to patrons.
There's a nice worldwide email reflector for community orchestra and band personnel.
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