I’ve had a hard time coming up with what I wanted to say here. Through the years our relationship has changed from student/teacher, to employee/boss, designer/director and then friends. It’s been hard to explain to people how the band program changed who I am, but I think the simplest way to say it is that I just wouldn’t be the man I am today without it. I wouldn’t have been able to pay for my college, I wouldn’t have been able to participate in drum corps, I wouldn’t have been able to teach drum corps or marching band, I certainly wouldn’t have been able to write music at all and through all of that, I wouldn’t have met my wife or have the family I have today without it.
I’ll never forget the first day I met you, as a completely new student to the school and the area, I had no idea what to expect from band. All I knew is that I wanted NOTHING to do with marching band. You convinced me to try it, I went out to my first practice and was miserable. I didn’t know what drill was, I didn’t know any of the music and I had NO idea on how to march. I stuck with it til the first competition. That’s where you hooked me on it. I couldn’t believe how AWESOME the band sounded and looked at an actual stadium with uniforms on! From that point forward, I wanted to be a part of it. And not just a part of it, a BIG part of it.
You also inspired me to pursue jazz band. At first, I thought it was just something that could be signed up for and I was so disappointed when I found out that you had to audition! I came to one rehearsal and sat in with the group and realized why I had to audition. I didn’t know what chord changes were, I had no range and my tone was rough. I remember once marching band season ended, you took the time that you didn’t have to take to work with me on both jazz phrasing and beginning to learn how to improvise. I joined jazz 2 and you pushed me HARD! You made sure that I was improvising in public every chance I had to help me get over my nerves about it. 3 Louis Armstrong awards and a scholarship to the biggest jazz school in the world later, I still think about my time in jazz 2, and you making me improvise at basketball games and how nervous I was! Anytime I feel pressure in my life, I think back to that time and how I was able to overcome.
Lastly, our time as colleagues. This is probably the time that I cherish the most. I was able to get to know you, not just as a band director, but as a man. I learned so much about arranging, writing, teaching and most importantly how to truly lead. I had never been a leader of people older and more experienced than me, but you believed in me when no one else would! You gave me the opportunity to truly leave my mark on the program. You were a great director to work with and I’ll never forget the time that we had working together. It was much too short and ended in the worst way possible. There aren’t many more ways for me to say how sorry I am for how everything happened. But again, you showed me what a man truly is. Not only did you forgive me for what happened, you welcomed me back with open arms and I am so proud to be the last arranger that you worked with at Skyview.
All I have left to say is just thank you. For helping to show me what a musician is, what a teacher is, what a coach is and most importantly, what a man is, here is what you helped shape:
Adrian Kelley
Class of 2005
Three-Time Louis Armstrong Jazz Award Winner
Berklee College of Music 2005-2008
Oregon Crusaders 2005-2006
Seattle Cascades 2007
Bluecoats 2008
Father of 2
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