Demondrae thurman biography of christopher

While guest-conducting the Northport Junior High School band, Gerald Loren Welker heard something in ninth-grader Demondrae Thurman that changed the would-be engineer’s life forever.

At the professor’s urging, Thurman heard Welker’s University of Alabama Wind Ensemble perform many times, most memorably in Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition," when Thurman was a year-old Tuscaloosa County High senior.

“I cried my eyes out that day," said Thurman, who is considered today one of the top trombone and euphonium soloists and is a recent addition to the UA School of Music faculty, “because I knew I had to do music and not engineering.

“Welker was really my inspiration for going into music at all."

Thurman and other former students will gather in Welker’s name Saturday at a memorial service for the UA School of Music professor emeritus, who died this past Saturday in Birmingham at the age of

One word crops up again and again when his name is mentioned: Passion.

“I always thought he’d die on the podium," said Laura Grantier Snavely, a former UA Wind Ensemble player, now a clarinetist with the renowned United States Navy Band.

“The key thing was how passionate he was about his music, how he could transfer his passion into his students, into the ensemble."

Snavely followed her studies at UA with graduate work at the Eastman School of Music, Welker’s alma mater, where she found the work not as challenging as Welker’s demands.

“He really made the kids play at a level that we didn’t think we were capable of," Snavely said.

“He would always throw music at me that seemed impossible to play, and he’d say 'You will play this, and you will do a good job with it.’"

Welker shone on the podium, where he led the Wind Ensemble from its debut in until retirement last year.

“He was very flamboyant on the podium," said Susan Fleming, assistant director of the school in the mids, when Welker served as director.

"

He always went the extra mile for student, Fleming said.

Welker recruited brass and woodwind players from around the region -- Snavely was from Denham Springs, La. -- through work with the UA Honor Band Festival, held each February, for which the best high school players compete to attend.

Snavely performed at the 22nd festival just a few weeks back, having to fight tears as she took the stage, missing Welker’s presence.

Her very first impression of him was striking.

“He was dressed all in black.

My first comment to my parents was, 'He looks like the devil,’" she said, laughing.

“He was a very dashing, distinguished-looking man. But you knew you had to mind your Ps and Qs when he stepped onto the podium in his black turtleneck."

Welker encouraged Thurman by giving him prime solo spots, including one with the visiting baritone William Warfield.

Demondrae thurman biography of christopher Authority control databases. One was a group called Houdini and the other was called The Fat Boys. The Festival returns June 22 with student arrivals. EMF's 58th season features over 65 performances by three symphonies, multiple chamber ensembles, and signature guest artists performances at its home location at Guilford College and other locations in Greensboro, the Triad, and Boone, North Carolina.

In , Welker commissioned composer Frederic Goossen to create “Sinfonia Concertante" as a showpiece for Thurman, making him the Wind Ensemble’s first euphonium soloist. Thurman later recorded that piece for his solo debut CD “Soliloquies," using Welker and the Wind Ensemble.

“He was really one of my primary draws for coming back," said Thurman, who joined the school as an assistant professor in “We had a great time dreaming together about ideas for the future.

“There’s a lot of musicians, young and old, who were affected by him.

And by his students, who are now teaching the new students. His legacy will live on. I can’t imagine it ending now."

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