I never had a director or conductor that made a huge difference to me, but in my case it was my private music instructor who did.
I wish I had some recordings or video of my musical mentor: Mr. Oscar Lagassé. He taught me not only how to play the tuba, but how to enjoy music -- and hobbies in general -- as a defining part of who we are. Before his first wife (June? Was always Mrs. Lagassé to me) died and the lessons were in his basement, he sometimes would take me over to the lathe down there and let me take a few swipes with a knife. He'd explain how a little tweaking with the knife would make a big difference on the wood, just like how a little adjustment with the mouth would make the music sound different. In that basement I learned how to play "Solo Pomposo" to his satisfaction (not an easy task), and was in the process of learning "Carnival of Venice" (never as good as
Mr Ryan Anthony though!) when his wife died. He quit teaching for a bit, moved, and then we reconnected at his new home with his new wife. This time his lessons were in the sun-room with a giant black grand piano, and he or his wife (Dorothy?) would often plink out a few notes (read "play piano better than I could") to accompany what he was teaching. After the lesson proper, he and my parents would often sit in the living room and chat for some time, mostly about what I was doing musically and where I was going. He taught me the importance of articulation, proper breath control, double- and triple-tonguing (ta-ta-ka), "slotting" the tuning of the notes, and learning not just the notes but their relationship to each other. He taught me that a good tuba player is sometimes invisible in order to create a proper foundation the entire band builds on. He also taught me to play almost any brass instrument, how to adjust the embouchure to go from tuba to french horn and just about any brass instrument in between. (Never did learn the trombone: I had problems with 7 slide-positions instead of 3 or 4 valves.) He taught me how to transpose on the fly. He taught me to not just play the tuba, but to make it sing. He taught me to appreciate not just music, but life in general, and the finer things in life especially. Mr. Lagassé opened the window to the musical world for sheltered young me, and I hope he knew how important he was in my life when he passed on.
He was never a "father figure" (my dad passed away about a year ago and was always a great dad to me, but had problems carrying a tune in a bucket), but he was definitely my musical "father".
One of the best posts I've seen in a long while.
