Tag Archives: Music Teachers

Yvonne Busch: Music teacher, band director, and jazz musician

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Yvonne Busch

Yvonne Busch leading her band at George Washington Carver High School.

Gifted educators often earn recognition for their accomplishments outside of the classroom. One of these is Yvonne Busch, a music teacher, band director, and jazz musician well-known in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Yvonne was born in New Orleans on October 18, 1929, the daughter of a longshoreman and a homemaker. She was raised in nearby Treme, a community with a reputation for a lively music scene. At just 11 years old, Yvonne persuaded her parents to allow her to enroll at Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi. Piney Woods is a privately-funded, historically African American boarding school well-known for its music education programs. There Yvonne played the trumpet and toured with the school’s all-girl band. The band performed at dances, clubs, and USO events throughout the American South and Midwest.

In 1943, Yvonne returned home to New Orleans, where she continued her music education at Gilbert Academy. She studied under the school’s music director, T. LeRoy Davis. It was during this time that the young woman decided to become an educator. She enrolled in the teacher training program at Southern University in Baton Rouge. While completing her coursework there, Yvonne joined the university’s jazz band, eventually becoming the band’s assistant director.

Once she completed her education, Yvonne returned to New Orleans, where she accepted a position as a public school teacher. Over the next three decades, she taught at Booker T. Washington School, Joseph S. Clark School, and George Washington Carver High School. As a teacher and band director, Yvonne often faced crippling shortages of funding and instruments. To combat this, she often contributed her own instruments, and persuaded her friends to donate more. As a teacher, she encouraged her students to play multiple instruments. Yvonne was so dedicated to her students that she offered free private lessons and organized summer practice sessions for her students.

In all, Yvonne’s impressive career spanned a total of 32 years. “Miss Busch was a lot like jazz,” remembered former student Herlin Riley. “She was intense, but she was relaxed. She had rules, but she would give you the freedom to explore. She stressed discipline, but she encouraged self-expression.”

This amazing chalkboard champion passed away in New Orleans on February 28, 2014, at the age of 84. To read more about her, see Yvonne Busch or her obituary at Yvonne Busch, New Orleans Music Educator.

Clarence Acox, Jr.: Music instructor extraordinaire

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There are many gifted musicians who share their extensive talents with fortunate students in the classroom. One such musician is Clarence Acox, Jr., a high school music teacher and jazz musician who resides in Seattle, Washington.

Clarence was born in October, 1947, in New Orleans. As a youngster, he attended Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School in Treme, Louisiana. After his high school graduation, he enrolled at Southern University, a historically Black university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He graduated in 1971.

After his college commencement, the young graduate accepted a position as a music instructor at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington. Famed musicians Jimi Hendrix, Ishmael Butler, Quincy Jones, and Ernestine Anderson are all Garfield alumni. Under Clarence’s capable leadership, the high school’s Jazz Ensemble has captured the first place title two times at New York’s Essentially Ellington National Jazz Band Competition and Festival at New York City’s Lincoln Center (2003, 2004). This competition is the nation’s most prestigious high school jazz band competition. Additionally, under his expert tutelage, the Garfield High School Band has traveled to Europe on eleven tours, attending music festivals in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, and the Netherlands.

In addition to his work in the classroom, Clarence performs regularly on the jazz nightclub scene in Seattle. He is a member of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, which he co-founded in 1995 with Michael Brockman, a saxophone instructor with the University of Washington. In addition, Clarence is the director of the Jazz Ensemble representing Seattle University.

For his outstanding work in the classroom, Clarence has earned many prestigious awards. In 1991, he was honored as the Musician of the Year by the Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle. He was named Educator of the Year by Down Beat Magazine in 2001, and in 2003 he garnered the Impact Award by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), an organization best known for presenting the Grammy Awards each year. In 2004, Clarence was named Outstanding Music Educator by the Seattle Music Educators Association, and in 2011, he was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Hall of Fame. Additionally, in May, 2016, Clarence was recognized with an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.

To learn more about this remarkable educator and musician, click on JazzJournalists.org or BlackPast.org.

Teacher Lorene Harrison: Alaska’s Cultural Pioneer

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I love to share stories of courageous teachers who have earned a name for themselves as intrepid pioneers. One such teacher is Lorene Cuthberton Harrison, a music teacher and singer who ventured to Alaska while it was still a territory.

Lorene Cuthberton was born in March 7, 1905, in Sterling, Kansas. After her high school graduation in 1922, she enrolled in Sterling College in Kansas, where she majored in home economics. She earned her bachelor’s degree and her teaching certificate in 1928. She was 23 years old.

The same year she graduated, this pioneering lady traveled to Alaska Territory, where she became the first music teacher in Anchorage schools. She also taught courses in home economics, general science, and geography. When she arrived, Anchorage had only 2,500 residents and the high school had only six teachers. Her salary was $180 a month, compared to the $60 per month that her friends were paid as teachers in Kansas.

Two years after her arrival, the pioneer educator married Jack Harrison, a local railroad engineer. The couple had two daughters. While raising her children, Lorene continued to teach music and theater. She also continued to sing for others, performing at private and public events such as weddings and funerals. When World War II erupted, Lorene worked for the United Service Organizations (USO).

After her beloved husband passed away in 1968, Lorene opened her own boutique which she called Hat Box. The store sold clothing and hats that she personally designed. The former teacher ran her store for 30 years. She also launched herself into various cultural activities in Anchorage. She organized the United Choir of All Faiths, which was the forerunner of the Anchorage Community Chorus; she served as the first president of the Anchorage Concert Association; she was on the founding boards of the Anchorage Arts Council, the Anchorage Civic Opera, and the Anchorage Little Theatre, and she served as the director of the First Presbyterian Church Choir for 29 years.

This amazing chalkboard champion passed away at the age of 100 in 2005 in Anchorage, Alaska, and was interred in the pioneer tract of the Anchorage Memorial Park. In 2009, Lorene Harrison was inducted into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame. You can read more about this intrepid lady at the link AlaskaHistory.org. You can also purchase Mostly Music: The Biography of Alaskan Cultural Pioneer Lorene Harrison, which can be found on amazon.com.

Melissa Salguero garners 2018 Grammy Music Educator Award

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Here’s a truly inspirational story about elementary music teacher Melissa Salguero, who has just been honored as the winner of the 2018 Grammy Music Educator Award. Melissa inaugurated her career as an educator in south Florida before transferring to the Bronx to teach at PS 48. The students at PS 48 are among the poorest in the city, with most kids coming from a home that has an annual income of less than $25,000 per year and a homeless student population of 22%. When Melissa first started teaching at the school, there was no school song, no instruments, and no school mascot. Nevertheless, she rolled up her sleeves and dedicated her abundant talent and energy to re-launch a music program that had been disbanded 30 years ago. “I feel I was born to teach at this school,” says Melissa. For more, watch this video of this amazing chalkboard champion as she is interviewed by Michelle Miller of CBS news.

Honoring Talented High School Band Directors who Appeared in the New Year’s Day Rose Parade

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In today’s blog post you can read more about the talented and dedicated band teachers who directed their students in this year’s New Year’s Day Rose Parade.

With appearances at five Disney theme parks and on five continents, the Pennsbury High School “Long Orange Line” Marching Band (above) hails from Fairless Hills, Pensylvania. The group was led by Band Director Mr. Frank Mazzeo. Frank earned his bachelors’s degree in music education from West Chester University and his master’s degree in music performance from Temple University. He has been a teacher in the Pennsbury School District since 1986. While there, he has implemented a 4-12 curriculum, initiated such programs as Pennsbury Community Band, the Symphonic Winds Soloist Competition, the Pennsbury Bands Festival at the Kimmel Center and Trenton War Memorial, the All Pennsbury Elementary Festival, the Pennsbury Middle School Honors Festival, the Pennsbury Summer Music Program, the Pennsbury Symphonic Orchestra, and the Pennsbury Symphony Orchestra.

Also traveling to Pasadena to appear in this year’s event was the Ronald Reagan High School Band (above) from San Antonio, Texas, led by Band Director Mr. Dan Morrison. Dan graduated from the University of Illinois with both his bachelor’s and a master’s degree in music education. Impressively, he has garnered the Daniel J. Perrino School of Music Award for excellence in music education. The 300-member group from Reagan High School includes performing arts students pulled from color guard, choir, and dance classes, and outstanding musicians playing brass, woodwind, percussion, and orchestral instruments.

Making another appearance in this year’s Rose Parade was made by the Bands of Santiago Sharks (“BOSS”) (above) of Santiago High School, hailing from Corona, California. Two dedicated educators share the task of directing this impressive group. The first is Mr. Kris Parish. Kris earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from Oral Roberts Uni­ver­sity in 1980, and his master’s in secondary education from Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­sity, San Bernardino, in 1985. Mr. Parish has served his entire  38-year teach­ing career in the Corona-Norco Uni­fied School Dis­trict. The other co-director is Mr. Joe Dudek. Joe graduated from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in music education. He returned to CSUF to complete his master’s degree in instrumental music conducting in 1996. The BOSS is comprised of four large concert bands, three full jazz bands, a number of jazz combos and chamber ensembles, a drum-line, and an award-winning color guard.

Hailing from Saratoga Springs, Utah, was the Westlake High School Marching Thunder (above). This group was led by Mr. Brek Mangelson, Director of Bands. Brek  Mr. Mangelson earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from Brigham Young University in 2006. In 2015, he completed the requirements for his master’s degree in instrumental conducting from the University of Utah. Westlake’s band was founded with just 40 members in 2009. This talented group has grown to over 170 members today. The Westlake Band is a two-time Utah State Marching Band Champion, and has been named a Bands of America regional finalist six times, while their color guard currently reigns as Utah Winter Guard State Champions.

Learn more about all the wonderful performers, participants, and floats,  featured in this year’s Rose Parade at this link: Rose Parade 2018 Lineup.