SJSU Alumni Sax Ensemble Concert - A Success!
12/04/10 10:16 Filed in: Performing | SJSU
I want to congratulate and thank everyone who participated in the concert at SJSU on Saturday, 4/10. It was an amazing evening due to the wonderful performances by both my students and the guest alumni who played on the program. This concert was originally conceived as a chance to invite SJSU alumni to honor William Trimble for his influence as the founding professor of saxophone at SJSU in the early 1970’s. i spoke with him last summer and he was going to come down from his retirement home near Seattle to participate. Unfortunately his health declined and then I had the shock of hearing he passed away six weeks ago. It was at that time that we decided to have this concert not only be to an “alumni” concert, but a tribute to Bill and his life.
The SJSU Saxophone Ensemble
When Bill began teaching saxophone at SJSU in the early 1970’s, it was one of the few college music programs in the country where you could get a degree in saxophone performance. This vibrant program now has one of the longest established saxophone ensembles at a university—now, a 38 year tradition. We were lucky to have alumni performing from each of those decades at the concert.
Dan Wyman presented a wonderful multi-media tribute to Bill at the concert that includes some of these pictures.
In addition, a memorial ceremony was held at Dan’s house, on Sunday. I read the following prose from one of Bill former students, Robert Klimowski at Saratoga High School, where he taught in the late 1960’s. It truly characterizes who Bill was.
It was that time of our impressionable youth when we were
on the verge of stepping into adulthood;
a time when the grim reality of “making a living” loomed large
and unattractive on the horizon
that Bill Trimble entered, or I should say, stormed the
fragile and unsure ramparts of our adolescence.
Here before us was a grown adult who was unabashedly
living his dream.
Bill’s passion for “music for music’s sake” was bold and brazen.
He would scream in enthusiasm or rage during rehearsals
in his love for something larger and almost unattainable.
We feared him, yes, but we were more in awe of the force
that had so possessed him,
and which blessedly came to possess many of us in turn.
Adulthood was no formidable foe for him.
His “Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!” approach
to following his muse was as infectious as it was reassuring.
“So it was possible, after all,” many of us unconsciously
concluded,
“to take on the burdens of adulthood and yet hold fast
to your cherished dreams.”
Most of us would not pursue the muse with such a
naked passion,
but the fire was kindled and would grow,
caught from the spark of his spirit.
The ascendancy of dreams was ensured.
Robert Klimowski
The SJSU Saxophone Ensemble
When Bill began teaching saxophone at SJSU in the early 1970’s, it was one of the few college music programs in the country where you could get a degree in saxophone performance. This vibrant program now has one of the longest established saxophone ensembles at a university—now, a 38 year tradition. We were lucky to have alumni performing from each of those decades at the concert.
Dan Wyman presented a wonderful multi-media tribute to Bill at the concert that includes some of these pictures.
In addition, a memorial ceremony was held at Dan’s house, on Sunday. I read the following prose from one of Bill former students, Robert Klimowski at Saratoga High School, where he taught in the late 1960’s. It truly characterizes who Bill was.
The Ascendancy of Dreams
It was that time of our impressionable youth when we were
on the verge of stepping into adulthood;
a time when the grim reality of “making a living” loomed large
and unattractive on the horizon
that Bill Trimble entered, or I should say, stormed the
fragile and unsure ramparts of our adolescence.
Here before us was a grown adult who was unabashedly
living his dream.
Bill’s passion for “music for music’s sake” was bold and brazen.
He would scream in enthusiasm or rage during rehearsals
in his love for something larger and almost unattainable.
We feared him, yes, but we were more in awe of the force
that had so possessed him,
and which blessedly came to possess many of us in turn.
Adulthood was no formidable foe for him.
His “Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!” approach
to following his muse was as infectious as it was reassuring.
“So it was possible, after all,” many of us unconsciously
concluded,
“to take on the burdens of adulthood and yet hold fast
to your cherished dreams.”
Most of us would not pursue the muse with such a
naked passion,
but the fire was kindled and would grow,
caught from the spark of his spirit.
The ascendancy of dreams was ensured.
Robert Klimowski