Mr. Tuba

16. Indiana University Retirement

380 In February 1972, I received a call from Mason Jones, personnel manager of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He told me I had been recommended by the orchestra search committee for the tuba position being vacated by Abraham Torchinsky and that Maestro Eugene Ormandy had asked him to contact me and negotiate an agreement. There would be no need for an audition and I could discuss salary with him. I told Mason I appreciated his call and I would give every consideration to the position. But I decided it would be improper to resign from Indiana University after only one year. A couple of days after receiving the call from Mason Jones, I called and told him to pass along my respects and appreciation for the offer but that I had decided to honor my agreement with Indiana University. In March 1972, trumpeter Fred Mills and tubist Chuck Daellenbach of the Canadian Brass quintet chartered a plane and flew to Bloomington to ask if I would consider managing the Canadian Brass. During my stay at IndianaUniversity,severalotherschoolsapproachedmeaboutadministrative positions, including the Oberlin Conservatory, the Manhattan School of Music, the North Carolina School of the Arts, Arizona State University, the Peabody Conservatory, and the New England Conservatory. I was also Indiana University Retirement CHAPTER SIXTEEN 381 Indiana University Retirement invited to follow Ed Birdwell as director of the music division for the NationalEndowmentfortheArts .IwenttoWashingtonforaninterviewwith Frank Hodsoll, chairman of the NEA. But I had no quarrel with the way I had been treated by Indiana University and the community of Bloomington . I had good relationships with the president, the chancellor, the dean, the faculty, and my community contacts. I co-sponsored activities with the mayor’s office from time to time and shared sponsorships for concerts with the local newspaper. The closest Carol and I came to moving was when I was approached by Arizona State University to become the dean of fine arts. I was invited to lunch at the Harvard Club in New York City by the president of Arizona State. The vice president of ASU flew to Bloomington to talk to the president , the chancellor, the dean, and the mayor, as well as the publisher and editor of the newspaper. He spent several hours during each of two days waiting to see the dean of the School of Music. Somehow, the dean always knew he was there, and would quietly escape out the back door. Carol and I had decided to take the job if they came up with the salary we requested. They came close but, in the end, were not able to secure the funds.Wedecidedtostayputin Bloomington,andArizonaStatehiredthe former director of the Carnegie Hall Corporation for the position. A few yearslater,heleft.TheASU vicepresidentagaincalledme,lettingmeknow that they had come up with extra money, and hoped I was still interested. I thanked him for his call and told him that my attention had been diverted to other interests. I had decided to stay at Indiana University. I eventually retired from Indiana University in June 1994. However, it was not a typical retirement year. On New Year’s Day of that year, Carol and I and Carol’s sister Elsie left for Greece and Spain for two weeks. Also, I presented clinics and made solo appearances in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland , New York, Kentucky, Burlington, Canada, Spain, and Greece. The streamofactivitydependedonlyonavailabletime,whichwasdevouredby projectskeptonthebackburnerwhilestudentshadbeenmyfirstpriority.I mended fences and built a new barn and shop building at TubaRanch. My consulting work increased and I was more able to involve myself in good conscience. I would fly into an airport, meet quickly with the client in an Admiral’s Club room, and would be back on the plane. 382 Mr. Tuba My students held a concert and a reception for me at the Indiana University High School Auditorium. We had a retirement party at TubaRanch aswellasadayofclinicsandensembles.Manycolleaguesattended,including Arnold Jacobs, who had retired as tubist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He got up to give an impromptu tribute, which moved me very much. Tubist Roger Bobo congratulated me on “one of the most remarkable musical careers the world has ever seen.” When I joined the faculty of Indiana University, I was happy to be greeted by Thomas Beversdorf, a long-time friend and multi-talented professor of trombone and composition. His Sonata for Tuba and Piano (1956) was eagerly received by serious tubists, and missed by only a few weeks being the first...