Hail to Chief

I have not known him a very long time, but already I feel like Martin Andraszek should be one of the most admirable directors the music industry has to offer. I just read his most recent blog at blogspot.com and was very impressed by what he had said.

In order to understand the respect I have for this man, you need to understand that the Harrah Marching band does not have a trophy case filled with big shiny awards saying how great they are. They do not have a long line of musical excellence dating back to the early part of the century. They don't win countless competitions year after year.....but that doesn't seem to bother Martin. From reading his blogs, it really sounds like that he loves these kids like they are his own, and doesn't care how successful they may be on the score charts....as long as they pour their heart into every performance and do the best they can do, he's happy. There are not enough band director's like that....many of them consider winning to be the most important thing.

I never felt that way about my band director's, however. Despite Lafayette's wonderful achievements, Chuck Smith was unique in that he let us know his honest opinion before we even knew what the results were. He cared more about execution then he did what some random biased judges thought....and I think that's helped me become a much better musician over these years. I base my music on what I hear, not what other's hear...and I think that's very important as a musician, no matter what field you may be in. If Martin is pleased with his student's performance, he lets them know and doesn't care what the judges think....and that's a personality trait that so often lost in this world.

I guess Chuck Smith and Martin Andraszek, despite their completely different band programs, are very similar in that respect. And I guess its musicians like them that make musicians like me even better.