Lucy and I attended a retirement tribute for Philip Geiger. He served as Band Director for Westfield High School these past twenty plus years. It was easy to compare the surprise retirement ceremony with that depicted in the movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus.
I should explain that all three of my children were members of the Big Red Band and benefited directly from Mr. Geiger’s commitment to excellence. I was never in a band, never learned to read music and the only music I can make comes out of the stereo. I did get to hear the band play on many occasions; football games from the stands or when they would practice their marching shows at half time, concerts during the school year and maybe the most impressive, at least to me, the marching band competitions.
I remember the first time I ever attended one of the really serious marching competitions at the huge stadium located on the Rice University campus. It was a brisk autumn evening and I was running late and so I got to watch from the back railing. I had no idea that so many folks would be attending, it was standing room only. I got to listen to a few of the other school bands before our Westfield Band had their chance. All during the performances the kids who had just completed their performances would be filtering into the crowd, as spectators now. When my kids were in the middle of their performance; and let me say that I had goose bumps from the quality of sound I was taking in, I overheard a couple of kids wearing band uniforms from another school.
“I’d give my right arm to be able to play in a band like that!” It was repeated in a number of ways, always coming out as a compliment from their peers. There was something different, a higher level of expectations from the Band Director that had transferred into the level of performance. Everyone, including the judges were of the same opinion.
These young people had put in hour upon hour of serious work; both in their musical talents and in their marching routine. The music was complicated as were the drills they were executing on the field. I have watched many marching band competitions during my children’s high school years; being the bread winner meant that I had to be selective as to which and when, all the same I made as many as I could.
One year they had earned a spot in the National Bands of America marching competition. There was no way I would be able to attend that one; however I did get to watch them go through the entire performance on a practice prior to the flight to Indianapolis. I had heard parts of the performance at various football games; but never the entire piece along with the fancy drills. They performed Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. I had never heard such an angelic sound come with so much power, as the entire band used their voices as if they had been transformed into a marching choir, the melody reaching the heavens. I have been told that the acoustics of the RCA domed stadium made the effect even more spectacular for those who traveled up for the competition. They won the award for best music and came in 2nd place overall. I cannot listen to that piece of music without thinking of how wonderful that moment in time, the level of achievement made by so young a group of musicians and the spirit of competition that remains with each of them. These are the citizens being spilled off into society, the ones we will not have to worry about. They understand what they are capable of and, for the most part, these are the best America has to offer.
Today as the tribute ceremony came to its natural conclusion, Mr. Geiger was called upon to lead the symphonic band one last time. They had been assembled and seated behind the curtains. I should also mention that the building, a state of the art performance auditorium had been pushed into reality through Mr. Geiger’s unyielding desire to have such an auditorium available for these young performers. He led them in one of his favorites, I love a Sousa March. He would turn to the audience and have us all sing along. It turns out that both Lucy and I also love Sousa marches and were more than willing to join in the festive singing.
Until recently all concerts, plays and similar performances had to be done on a borrowed stage at another high school. This new structure had been completed only a year or two back and had yet to be given a proper dedication. We all found out today that the school board, upon hearing that Mr. Geiger had planned to retire this year, unanimously voted to place his name on the building. As this was announced tears were streaming down his cheeks, our own as well. This was an affirmation of the community’s goal, to have our young people embrace a common value and run with it. With all the terrible problems in our school systems, the drugs, gangs and the sexual permissiveness that, as parents we try to shield and protect our children from; having been present at today’s tribute to Phillip Geiger and the accomplishments that were a direct result of his efforts was also a tribute to the young people who are the future of our society.
This is one of the reasons I pay my property taxes, mind you, I still grumble about the other abuses carried out in the name of public education. I can support a program that turns out young people like the ones that come from Westfield High Schools band program.
Jager Lloyd, a Westfield High graduate did the artwork for the program cover.
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