Gary Tirey Retires

[Steve Marcus]

From the Columbus Dispatch:

ARTBEAT
Tuba master leaving Otterbein on high note
Sunday, April 16, 2006
BARBARA ZUCK

His legacy booms from the back rows of bands and orchestras. It marches onto college and highschool football fields. It echoes in the oompahs of hundreds of players in Merry TubaChristmas of Columbus.

Gary Tirey, 65, will retire July 20 after 38 years as director of instrumental studies and professor of tuba at Otterbein College.

‘‘He is a wonderful musician and a force in the tuba world," said Harvey Phillips, former Indiana University School of Music tuba professor and founder of the national Merry TubaChristmas. Tirey started the Columbus version of the holiday program in 1982.

Much earlier, in 1968, he took the helm of Otterbein’s small college-band program and began to turn it into a force to be reckoned with nationally.

When Tirey was hired, the Westerville college had fewer than 50 music majors and only a marching and concert band. Today, Otterbein has more than 150 music majors and five bands or ensembles, three of which Tirey founded: the pep band, jazz band and wind ensemble.

His ‘‘musicianship, vision, leadership, passion, dedication and keen imagination enabled the wind and jazz programs at Otterbein to soar," said Lt. Col. Carl Chevelard, retired conductor of the U.S. Air Force Band of the Rockies.

On April 2, 135 former band members performed a tribute concert for Tirey, filling Otterbein’s Cowan Hall to capacity. The college has created the Gary R. Tirey Endowed Award in Music to support an outstanding student each year.

"I was stunned . . . how many alumni told me how much he meant to them — and not only musically," said Craig Johnson, chairman of the Music Department. "He is a real model for all of us."

In the small Shelby County town of Anna where he grew up, he first played the cornet, an instrument cast off by older sister Linda. But when he began to progress rapidly, his sister decided she wanted the instrument back.

"I told my band director that I couldn’t play in the band anymore, because I didn’t have an instrument," Tirey said. "She opened a closet, and way in the back was an old E-flat tuba that no one wanted. So, as an eighth-grader,...Ibecame a tuba player."

He graduated with a double major in voice and tuba in 1963 from Capital University’s Conservatory of Music and was offered a job as lead bass with a small opera company in Virginia.

"Gretchen and I were just married, and, when I asked if spouses could go along on the opera tours, they said no," Tirey said. "So that was that."

After a few high-school gigs, he took the job at Otterbein, teaching music-education classes, directing the marching and concert bands, and giving tuba lessons. At one time, he also directed the jazz and pep bands. He initiated national and international tours for the groups.

Many of the students "hadn’t been out of Ohio before," said Lyle Barkhymer, chairman of Integrative Studies.

Kris Lehman, a 1981 graduate and an instrumental-music specialist at Stanton’s Sheet Music, said his former teacher incorporated stories and life lessons into his instruction.

"He tried to give you the stuff they don’t always teach you — like this piece of advice to a new music teacher or highschool band director: ‘Make friends right away with the janitor because they can help you a lot.’ There’s a lot of truth in that."

Beyond Otterbein, Tirey frequently performed with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and its Brass Quintet. With the Tuba Troupe, he has played at the German Village Oktoberfest; and he has appeared with the nationally known Tuba-Shop Quartet throughout the Midwest.

He became a founding member of the popular Brass Band of Columbus and launched the city’s beloved Merry Tuba-Christmas, one of more than 200 such events worldwide.

"Gary is my official Ohio representative," Phillips said. "He coordinates it as well as anyone in the world."

Tirey will continue to perform with the Brass Band of Columbus and other ensembles, and direct the choir at Church of the Master United Methodist Church in Westerville — which he has led for 34 years.

As for Otterbein, he said, "I’ll miss the preparation of the music, the daily contact with the students and the thrill of watching them grow over time."

Barbara Zuck is Dispatch arts columnist and senior critic.

bzuck@dispatch.com

[TonyZ]

Even though he is my teacher and father-in-law, I can safely say that not many folks have done as much for the tuba and music education than Gary. Many of you may not know him, and that's ok. He hasn't played many recitals in the recent past, and he was the director of bands at Otterbein which is a busy post, but he is one of the foremost teachers around. He helped make me after many years of floundering, and I see the same in many of his students. In a day when teaching jobs are all stepping stones to something better, he stayed at Otterbein for 38 years (!) and made that program one of the best around, through caring for his students, consumate musicianship, fearless leadership in the face of ignorant adminstrators, and genuine love for music. There are not many like him at all.

My love, congratulations, and best to Gary and Gretchen!

Tony