INTERVIEW WITH TOM BRACE

July 15, 1999

Tom Brace began learning music and playing the trumpet in the third grade. When he went to school, his mother told him and he understood later that the superintendent at the time, probably named Mr. Sheehan, was progressive for his time and funded music and the arts for students to begin at an early age. He thinks that Mr. Sheehan left the Rockford area to move to San Francisco. In addition to learning to play the trumpet at school, Tom took private lessons. Tom's interest in music really sparked under the direction of Dave Remington, a substitute teacher who led a big band and played jazz recordings for the students. Tom also went to Wilson Middle School and played in the orchestra while Mr. Davis served as director. Mr. Davis later became the band director at East High School and maintained a great jazz program. [Click here to see pictures of Mr. Davis at East High School.]

When Tom Brace played in the marching band for Auburn High School from 1974 until his graduation in 1978, Mr. Roger Ellis served as Band Director. [See the picture of Mr. Ellis under the interview with Mr. Doug Hoffman or click here to see him sqeezing the Charmin.] During his sophmore year in 1976, the band went on a trip to Virginia Beach for a summer music festival competition for concert and marching bands. He said he saw Mr. Ellis really angry only once. On another band trip to Six Flags Over St. Louis during a weekend, the band returned to the hotel late in the evening on Saturday to discover that the pool already closed at 10 P.M. Most of the band members were still too excited from spending the day at the park and had too much energy. Some of them decided that they would go swimming even though the pool was already closed! The chaperones taped all the hotel doors closed so that they would be able to know if anyone left their rooms during the night. Those that wanted to swim (including Tom) circumvented the taped doors by climbing out onto the balconies and climbing down. Their plan worked until the band members jumped into the pool and everyone could hear the splashing water. The hotel manager came out and yelled at them to get out of the pool. Their actions of jumping in the pool after hours and their risky business of climbing down the balconies from a couple of floors up angered Mr. Ellis the next morning more than anything Tom witnessed during his four years of high school.

Tom Brace said that Mr. Ellis understood the importance of having a marching band at football games. In Illinois, there are really no competitions for marching bands, the emphases are on jazz and concert bands. Mr. Ellis knew that marching band shows at football games gave the band exposure. More people went to football games than band concerts and if the students could play and march at the same time, they could certainly play sitting down for concert band.

During 1977, Tom's junior year, the Rockford School Board ran out of money and tax referendums failed. There was a major economic crisis in the United States following the Nixon administration and the voters did not want their taxes raised. The School Board cut extracurricular activities such as football, basketball, and band concerts. But all this did not stop the bands from playing. In 1977, the marching band did march in a parade, but it was not a school activity. The bands also performed concerts in local churches because they were cheaper to rent than school facilities. School dances during Tom's junior ended up being held at Rock Valley College and the organizers hired off-duty police and paid for liability insurance. The fourth tax referendum passed after consultants suggested that the school kids call voters. For Tom's senior year, all the extracurricular activities returned, altough he said that participation dropped from earlier years.

During Tom's senior year, Mr. Ellis gave him an application for a music program sponsored by Purdue University and encouraged him to make the effort to auditon for a place in a special band. He auditioned for and gained a place in a band comprised of only two musicians from every state and Washington, D.C. One week after graduating, he left for New York City for rehearsals, then the 102 band members toured several countries in Europe for 30 days. The trip, however, was not free and he did pay $1500 of the money he saved for college. His experiences were well worth the money! Each year of this program, Purdue University chose one musician for a full scholarship.

After graduating from Auburn High School in 1978, Tom Brace continued with music. He graduated from Beloit College with a degree in music and he also gained vocal training in addition to playing the trumpet. He joined the drum and bugle corps Phantom Regiment and more recently served as the director of the Phantom Legion, a Division III corps for younger musicians. He now helps out with the Tar Heel Suns, a drum and bugle corps based in Cary, North Carolina. The Tar Heel Suns began only four years ago and some former members of the Rockford Public Schools bands and the Phantom Regiment joined it. Tom's sons are also musicians for the Hononegah school district. Kenton plays the trumpet and mellophone and Aaron plays the drums.

If you have QuickTime, click here to see a video of the Phantom Regiment. Depending on the speed of your modem, it may take around three minutes to download. If you do not have QuickTime, click here to download it to your computer.







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