Good band directors are a special breed of cat. In the song 'Leader of the Band', which I invoked in the title to this post, Dan Fogelberg captured the special qualities of these men of music by telling us of his band director dad's "thundering velvet hand". I knew what that phrase meant the first time I heard it because I, too, am the son of a music man.
Good band directors teach good music through relentless but loving discipline and they elicit beautiful performances from the pain of repetitious rehearsal. Fogelberg and my dad's 'thundering velvet hands' would figuratively slap with one hand and caress with the other; that's how a good band director prepares students for life. Students of good band directors realize that the demanding s.o.b. provided them with unforgettable memories through exhilarating brushes with great music. All borne of discipline. All borne of love.
Herbert Hazelman, Grimsley High School's legendary music man, apparently had my and Fogelberg's dads' thundering velvet hand. Any high school band director who managed to produce five linear feet of archived history at the University of Maryland is deserving of exaltation. This weekend, he is getting some long over-due recognition.
In today's N&R, Jim Schlosser tells of the upcoming dedication of Grimsley's Music Building to the man who designed it back in 1956.
Hazelman was not only a great director, his accomplishments also include original compositions and arrangements of many fine pieces of concert band music. This Saturday, through the efforts of friend Elizabeth 'Boo' Stauffer and other Grimsley stalwarts, Hazelman will finally get brick and mortar permanence added to his considerable legacy.
All of my children will spend their high school band days in the building Hazelman built. Jackson is currently playing tuba and next year Josie will occupy an oboist's seat in Grimsley's still excellent band that is now under the direction of Dr. Stefan Stuber who carries on Hazelman's precedence setting history of great directors.
Even though I've only met Hazelman a time or two over the years, I know him very well because of my relationship with a similar music man. I look forward to re-introducing myself to the maestro on Saturday and shaking his hand to feel its intense softness.
9:07:26 AM 
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