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.
