A maestro's milestone

By Kristin Palpini
Staff Writer

Published on October 26, 2007

Amherst- Enthusiasm. Energy. Excitement.

This is the motto of the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band and it's a pretty good summary of what drives their director, George N. Parks.

Parks, a 54-year-old redhead who uses his hands as much in conversation as when he's conducting, exudes passion for the band on and off the field.

"He's very energetic," said Jimmy Verdone, a trumpet player in the UMass band.

"See that scissor lift?" asked Verdone, pointing to a blue lift in front of a group of students warming up their instruments before band practice.

"When he's on that lift above us, he's in the air jumping up, shouting directions, and (the lift is) not that sturdy, but he cares more about how the ensemble looks than whether he's going to fall off."

Parks has infused his enthusiasm for music and marching into the UMass band since arriving at the university in 1977. Today, Parks' 30 years at the helm of the UMass marching band will be celebrated with a dinner after the homecoming football game.

"Everyone loves him. I think it's his yearly goal to remember everyone's name and learn a little something about them by the third week or so," said Eleanor Lincoln, a euphonium player in the 375-member band.

Parks is taking his 30 years in stride and keeping his focus on the band. While talking with a reporter Wednesday, Parks fielded calls from drum majors who were preparing the field for practice, approved new music and dashed around a small office furnished with trophies, pictures of past bands and old stuffed chairs to collect news clips and historical band documents.

"I think it's not something in the band that gets your passions going, it is the band that gets your passions going," said Parks.

"Band is the place I belonged as a kid," Parks said. "That's what band does - it gives people a place they might not have had."

Parks' dedication to band may be genetic. Both his parents were drum majors and his aunt recalls Parks marching around his kitchen at age 5.

"I was the conductor of my wood block band in first grade," said Parks with a laugh. "I still remember standing up there with my little red vest on leading them."

Parks' journey leading the largest college band in the Northeast's history - and one of the most respected in the country - wasn't always smooth. He was kicked out of band in the third grade for not practicing his clarinet and faced an inhospitable group of musicians when he first came to direct the UMass band at age 24.

"I look at this 30th anniversary and I look at the band and think that I can't say this is the best band we've ever had, but they've never been any better," Parks said.

From the top

Parks found his musical touchstone - the tuba - when he was in sixth grade. After playing his first tuba solo, John P. Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever," Parks knew he was hooked.

In ninth grade, Parks decided he wanted to be a band director and became active in his Delaware high school marching ensemble.

At 24, Parks had graduated from Northwestern University with a master's degree in tuba performance, earned a bachelor's degree in music education from West Chester University and was looking for a job. He had been turned down for positions at a couple of New England junior high schools, but due to good timing, was hired at UMass.

"I think they were desperate," Parks said. "It was June and they needed a band director."

Parks' welcome to the UMass Marching Band wasn't the warmest, he recalled. Many musicians were unwilling to follow Parks after playing under John Jenkins for 14 years.

Parks came to UMass with a new style. He threw out the old traditional way of high-step marching and took a more drum corps-like approach to performances. Parks had served as the drum major for the Reading Buccaneers Senior Drum and Bugle Corps for 14 years.

Further flouting tradition, Parks was willing to incorporate any successful, entertaining performance style. He wasn't afraid to experiment with dancing, singing or piano solos in the shows, all of which were taboo to traditional band leaders. "People thought I was going to destroy the band," said Parks, who admits to being "particularly obnoxious" at the beginning of his career. "I thought I knew everything."

When Parks took over the band there were 172 members. The following year, the band dipped to 168 members. But Parks didn't quit on UMass. "I knew it would just take time," Parks said.

The first show the band performed under Parks was an arrangement of music in the boxing movie "Rocky."

"Ultimately in this day and age you can't do anything completely original. You have to steal the best every chance you get," said Parks.

This method eventually paid off for Parks.

Today's band

Today, The UMass Minuteman Marching Band features a hybrid of musical styles and theater in every show.

"I would never look at something and say that's corny or bad. I would look at it and say if people liked it, why did they like it?" Parks said.

This year, the band plays a mix of music including Russian Christmas music, songs by Latin singer Gloria Estefan and George Gershwin's jazzy "Rhapsody in Blue."

One of the more successful shows, and possibly Parks' favorite to date, was "Phantom of the Opera," which the band performed in 1990.

Parks recalls looking up into the stands at a football game after playing a ballad from the musical/opera and seeing a man embracing his wife with tears streaming down his face.

"That's what I want," Parks said. "I want to suck the audience into the show. We have to win over an audience that typically isn't there to see us."

Under Parks' leadership, the UMass Minuteman Marching Band has performed for Presidential Inaugural Ceremonies in 1981, 1985 and 2001. In 1993, 2001 and in 2004, the band performed at Bands of America Grand Nationals.

In 1998, the band received the most prestigious honor bestowed on college bands, the Louis C. Sudler Trophy. The award is given in recognition of "the highest of musical standards and innovative marching routines and ideas" over several years.

"He wants to stay on the top and he leads us there," said Kathryn Rapacki, a trombone player.

Parks plans to stay on as band director at UMass for another 30 years or so. In that time he would like to see the band reach new heights of musical excellence and maybe get a nice office for himself and the marching ensemble. Parks is now tucked away in the cramped rooms of the 58-year-old University Apartment building, along with housing maintenance services.

"He's only at the halfway point," joked Verdone, the trumpet player. "I think he'd only leave us for two things, if he died or if he was fired. And since I don't think they'll fire him, I guess he'll be around until he falls off the scissors lift."