Bend Don't Break: Michael Gesme, Conductor of the Central Oregon Symphony and Professor at COCC

In this episode of Bend Don’t Break, host Aaron Switzer sits down with Michael Gesme, conductor of the Central Oregon Symphony and longtime professor at COCC, as he prepares to retire after 30 years of shaping the region’s classical music scene. Michael reflects on his journey from the Midwest to Bend, the evolution of local performance spaces, and the community partnerships that have sustained everything from chamber music to full symphonic productions.Together, they explore the therapeutic power of music, the challenges of arts funding, and the renewed momentum behind a Central Oregon Performing Arts Center. Tune in for a heartfelt conversation about legacy, leadership, and the enduring joy of making music in—and for—your community.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

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SPEAKER_00 0:22

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SPEAKER_01 0:45

Welcome to the Ben Don't Break Podcast. I'm Aaron Schweitzer, the publisher of The Source and producer of this fine audio moment. Today we have Michael Gesme, who is now in his 30th and final season as conductor of the Central Oregon Symphony and professor of music and fine arts communication department at Central Oregon Community College. In addition, he conducts the Cascade Winds Symphonic Band, the Central Oregon Chamber Orchestra, and various performances for Opera Bend. Michael has taught courses in music theory, ear training, music history, and conducting, and is an active clinician and adjudicator in the region. He received his bachelor's degree from Luther College and his master's degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Missouri Columbia. Michael. Missouri, Columbia. Was that where you uh were born? Where you hailed from?

SPEAKER_02 1:44

I was born in Illinois. Okay. Um, and but all all my people are are from the Midwest. So Iowa uh was where I went to school, but like that's where my grandparents were all from Iowa, so that's where Luther College is. Yeah. And then uh ended up going to graduate school at the University of Missouri Columbia, which is where I met my wife, and she's from Missouri, and so the all of her people are from there. So we we we make the pilgrimage regularly back home. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Uh how uh what how did you end up coming? You've been in Central Oregon for how long?

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Twine and a half years or whatever it is, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

It's a good long time.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I'm I I'm not gonna be.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

I feel like that's almost native. I want to give myself that change.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Okay, I think that's fair because my children were born here. And so like they're native, and I'm feeling like if my children can call them, like I gotta be kind of in the club a little bit. Yeah, my one of my sons is a native, so yeah, and I I came here right out of graduate school for the job that I still have. I mean, like this is the only job I've ever had at COCC, which which involves all of those things that you mentioned. Like it's all done through the college with a lot of community support through with other organizations and nonprofits and stuff like that. But but it's all centered around the college.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

I mean, COCC, um, for those of us who remember, I mean, it was the cultural hub and institution back wasn't doesn't seem like that long ago.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

And um, and I mean you played a big part in that and all the entertainment. It was where we went for entertainment.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

Yeah, for sure. That when when I when I started, um the there was super active theater department, and you know, we would do major musical productions every year with uh, you know, the art department would do the the you know the scenery, if you will, and the theater department would do the all the costumes, and I would bring in the music and the orchestra and stuff. It was it was an amazing, yeah, amazing time. You know, the my early days here, and then the economy went south and things changed, and yeah, we are where we are.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

But yeah, right. The um how did you find an application for Bend Oregon back in Iowa and have the wherewithal to think, well, that I I'd like to go there because 30 years ago, what were we like 35,000? That's about right.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Um great question. You know, I don't know that two people have ever asked me that in all the time uh that I've been here.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

So Well and you got to convince your the other Missourian you were tied to to make the trip.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

So like anybody who is hunting for a job today, right? There are publications back then. We didn't have internet in the in this in any way meaningfully like it is now, but I received uh a monthly publication that had the job listings for people who wanted to work in higher ed. And this was one of them. And I distinctly remember opening it up and seeing this particular job, and I had applied for a few other jobs because I had graduated and I'm looking for a gig. Um, and I saw this job, and I told my wife, I'm I'm going to get this job because it is as far away from everybody we know and love in the continental United States. Right. You know, from from Missouri where we were living at that time. Uh it was it was a long ways away. And so I applied for the job, came out. Uh everything was somewhat against me in in the sense that I flew out. Uh my luggage didn't make my connection in Portland. And so I waited for the next flight to come. It still didn't show up. So now it's midnight, and I got to drive from Portland to Bend. I had no idea I was driving through mountains. I'm just haul and tail all through that. And I get to bend um and uh still don't have any luggage, and I go, you know, get a few toiletries or whatever to do what I need to do. Uh, but my dad, bless him, um, he said, you never fly in any clothes other than the nice things that you need to wear in case something goes wrong. And so, and I still do, like I always dress up when I fly.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Um, and so you're not one of those people that puts the onesie on the code.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Oh good lord, I think those people should be shot. Um but the the so I showed up, you know, and I had a suit. I mean, I like took my shirt off and ironed and I mean tried to look presentable, but like I was wearing nice clothes and went to my interview after having three hours of sleep and did the whole day uh and you know went back home. Um, you know, I I hadn't I'd never had an interview, so I didn't know if that was wet good or not. And and but I was clearly the last person on the chain because that was probably a Thursday, Friday kind of a thing. And I had a call on Monday morning to say if I and I'm like, oh my gosh, I was I was right, which was weird. Um, but I didn't know anything about Bend. I didn't know where Bend was. I mean, like in terms of what but once I told people this is where I was going to go, the people who do know Bend know it for very different reasons, but most of them had to do with outdoorsy, you know, kinds of things. Even back then. Uh even back then. And they're like, oh, that's a really lovely place. You're gonna like and so I I didn't know if I was gonna be here for two years or 20 years or uh an entire career, but we didn't have any other job options, and we had uh, you know, my wife was was just a few months pregnant at that point when I when I said yes. And so by the end of the summer, she was eight months pregnant, and we packed up the the rider van and and moved out here. And my son was born two months after we got here, and yeah, so it it's been great, you know, in terms of the the opportunity and the chance to do the things that I love, which like I love orchestra. I mean, like that's what I wanted to do ever since I was little. Um, but I get to do the band, I get to do opera, I get to do chamber music. I mean, like, oh my gosh. So, like, it's and and teach. I love to teach, yeah, which is where I'm headed right after we're done with this. You know, thank you. So thank you for accommodating your schedule a bit for me. Um, and so it just it's been a really, a really pleasurable experience to be able to do all of those things.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

I mean, I I don't I don't want this to go the sound the wrong wrong way, but you know, Central Oregon is is not what you would imagine as a hub for classical music or those things. I mean, you basically had to develop it. I I don't know what it I mean, and I will profess my ignorance, I don't know what it was like before you got here, uh, but I've imagined it was developed from that point forward for the most part.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

Yeah, well, there was a couple of different things that were going on. So, in terms of like the local scene, what was going on? I mean, the orchestra was relatively small. I mean, the concert band was relatively small, but but they were they were thriving, you know, because the people who want that are there. I mean, and they're all in and invested. And so uh, you know, my task was was just uh, you know, to build right what you know, not in any like by the end of two years you need to be doing the there was no no like list of expectations five flautists. Yeah, yeah, good lord. No, we don't need to see uh but we only have two, so so it was just this this idea of of move and grow and and see what happens. And and so two things happened, like people kind of came out of the woodwork to start playing, which was lovely. Uh, and then the other thing is that we had some really wise individuals in terms of how we should structure the mission of the orchestra. And by that I mean was the mission to perform for as few people as possible and charge a lot of money for tickets for whatever experience that provided, or was it to try to make it as available as possible to as many people as we can, because that was the goal statistic exposure. And obviously they chose number two, which was like so what I loved, because having done a little bit of traveling to Europe, uh, you know, the the European perspective, which is supported by the government, you know, on some level, I'll give you that. Um, but they are able to uh do an orchestra concert or an opera performance or something like that, where there are people who are paying hundreds of dollars for a ticket, and there are also people who are paying dollars for a ticket. Sure. Ten dollars five dollars. I mean, I I stood, uh I stood in one of the best opera houses in the world for four hours of Wagner, which for some people is like the third ring of hell. But for me, it was amazing. Yeah, and after going to that, we and my little group of you know teenage friends went to McDonald's afterwards, and I spent more at McDonald's than I did for the four-hour ticket for to watch the opera. I mean, like, and so they were basically trying to do that. Yeah, that was this was the model was to get people in the door, and maybe they would be willing to to donate some money to help us do more of what we did. And so we did a couple of concerts at uh Mountain View High School, which is oddly enough where we are right now. And by the end of that season, the first year I was here, they were so successful at getting people in the door, we were turning people away. So that's when we moved to Bend High the next year, which was uh from a 600-seat hall to a 1400-seat hall. And we did we were doing two concerts there, and we almost got to the point where we're like, we need to add another concert. So we literally had we were doing three concerts like a Saturday, Sunday, and a Monday for years. Um, and then COVID and everything kind of went sideways as far as that goes. Uh, and then Bend High fell down. And so that, you know, so we're back at for the end of my career, we're now back where I started. Yeah. Um, and uh and and we use all the high schools.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

I mean, I I just saw I saw the wins at Summit, yeah, which is a night, lovely.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

Yeah, and I've I've we've literally played not necessarily the symphony, although I think the symphony has played in most of them as well. Uh, but like the groups that I have worked with, we've been in almost every high school in central Oregon, including Madras, you know, and Primeville and stuff like that. Um, and uh we were at Caldera last fall and uh had the because of scheduling um we had to do the spring concert at Mountain View, and they're all the same size, so size wasn't the issues, but the sound was so much um for me, for what we do, it was so much better. And we're like, I we we we need to be here. Like this is if we're trying to present a great kind of a thing. And so um that's that worked out great for us, you know. Yeah, for that.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

How yeah, I mean, how has it I mean back? I mean, I assume listeners know this, but you know, when when you started, there was no tower. There was uh the college, there was high school auditoriums, and that was the extent.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

That true. Yeah, absolutely. That was the extent.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Even with the addition of the tower, it's still a pretty limited uh performance space.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

In terms of size, yeah. I mean, and I love the tower. I mean, I've done operas and musicals and all sorts of amazing things you know at the tower. It's lovely. Uh and and you know, that that's it is perfect for that kind of a thing. It it won't work for a large ensemble kind of a thing because the stage is too small for starters. Um, and then you know, it's even smaller than the high schools, and we we pack the high school. So, like, I mean it that's a that's a challenge for us. Uh but it's perfect for like opera and musicals and all the cool CTC yeah not CTC uh TMP productions that go on down there, um things like that. So like I'm I'm grateful for that.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Um But it begs the question. I mean, they're going out for the survey now on the Performing Arts Center. People are questioning it. We're gonna get into the whole like value of the arts conversation. And um and I mean for someone like yourself and and and myself who've lived here as long as and have seen it in the stage, personally, it feels like time, time for it.

SPEAKER_02 14:06

Yeah, but pasti. It's it's funny because the you know, you you mentioned something that that I so agree with, which is like when I first came, um the college was the hub. Yeah, uh there was no OSU cascades. There were other uh higher institutions in town, but they were all you know extensions, if you will, of their of their main campuses.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Cameron used to bring Jimmy Cliff up to the gymnasium, it was where we would see live music.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

There you go. And so the college was integral in a movement in the late 90s um towards uh what which for me was the first time we were presented with the idea of a performing arts center of some sort. And the college wanted to be a part of it, they wanted it on their campus, you know, and and they they put time and energy into that and a big study and all of the things that that surround making those kinds of uh uh inroads towards something new, surveys, et cetera, et cetera. And when it came time for the the real question of okay, are we gonna move forward? We've got all this information now. Can we raise the money? Can we do the thing? That's exactly the moment when the Tower Theater was doing their thing. And I have no problem with what the decision was, which was the Tower Theater had a building uh and they were ready to do what they were going to do. It was gonna be much less expensive, but we were all gonna fight for the same dollars. So none of us would succeed if it wasn't gonna happen. So I remember being in the room, like we're in this in a boardroom talking. We're like, tell you what, do the tower, we'll put this on the back burner for a couple of years and we'll come back.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

And the economy that was the time when all of that went bad. Uh, and so it just never got started again uh for many, many years. And then it did start and it stopped again. And now there's the third incarnation since I've been around, which is the Central Oregon Center of the Arts. And they started pre-COVID, and of course, you know, that that hampered the the initial efforts there. But they are farther along in their work towards making something happen than any other group I've been a part of. Sure. Um, and now there's there was an article in the newspaper yesterday that is, you know, the city is doing something along those lines, surveys and questions, and they are absolutely checking with this group because we've already done a lot of this work. So hopefully we can all find a way to to play nice in the sandbox and and and get what we all think we need.

SPEAKER_03 16:43

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

Um, because it's it's it it's time. I I won't see it in my career, even if it started tomorrow. I mean, it would it'll be six years before it happens, you know, kind of a thing.

SPEAKER_03 16:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

Um, and and you still have to raise a hundred million dollars, which I don't have. Right. Um, but you know, some people do, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Uh at least well, they still gotta have people use the facility. So there's that.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Yeah. So I I'm I'm hopeful, you know. I just I'm I'm I think that the college is in a position now um with some some leadership that is interested in the arts. And um, and I went in and met with the new president um, I don't know, a month ago. He his one of his goals was to meet with every person, every full-time employee on the campus within the first six months he was there. And uh I don't know if he will make that goal, but but I think I was number, you know, 300 and something by the time I went. And there's only 460 full. So I mean, he was way on the way towards making that happen. But I met with him and I and I was just describing what was going on, and I was saying, and I'm on this committee, we're looking for trying to build a performing arts center, you know, seeing what they say. Don't you think it should be on the campus? And I'm like, Yeah, I I do, but like that's not been a college priority for the last 15 years. That's been a hard no. And he's like, Well, I I think we should at least be in the running for this.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Oh, that'd be great.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

And and within a week, it had completely turned around. He had talked to people and said, Yes, we're interested. He talked to the board, they said, Yes, we're interested, at least in being considered.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

Right.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

And we had the survey people come out and say, This is where it would likely go if it was going to be here. Tell us if this will work, kind of a thing. And I'm like, oh my gosh. So, you know, for me, that's I I feel like I'm at least going away at a time when the torch seems to be at least somewhat flickering in the background. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Why uh why now? Why, why step back from and what does it mean that to retire? I mean, people you're in the art, so I know it's not uh that's that's not a career as much as it is a passion.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

Sure. So why now? Um well, there's a couple of um uh like super practical reasons. One is that I work for the state, which means I'm a PERS employee. Yeah. And that if you can hit 30 years, that's that trumps everything as far as like a retirement start time kind of a thing. And since I started work there when I was 26 years old, that and so I'm at a point now where like I could stop doing this and get my full PERS benefits, and they don't get profoundly better. Though if I stayed in another 15 years doing the same job, if I got a job where I was making twice as much money, the benefit would obviously be different. But like that's I'm not interested in that work in terms of education. Um, and so that I would just be doing what I'm doing. So, like, that's a very practical reason. Right. The the other reasons uh are my amazing wife has basically been here because I'm here, yeah, and she's got a lot of stuff that she'd like to do too.

SPEAKER_03 20:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:03

Um, and so she would love to teach English in a foreign country, and so like that is probably what we're gonna be doing over the next couple of years. Um and you know, I mean, like we we're just in the process of figuring that out. So like I don't know. Like if you ask me in six months, I'll know exactly what we're gonna do. Uh but right now that's that's still the the in the planning stages kind of a thing. Um, and uh so there's just you know, that's it it's a good time to go.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

We've got you're gonna be mobile though. You're gonna be overseas.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

Yeah, and it we don't have any intention of of getting rid of home being banned at this point. Like I I I love my house. I wanna I want to be able to come back, you know, to to that place. Um so at this point, we're not looking to to sell and you know, buy a Winnebago and and just go or or put everything in storage. Like we want home to still be here.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

I I don't see you at the wheel of a Winnebago.

SPEAKER_02 21:04

No. When I I it's interesting. I have an uncle who worked at Winnebago. You know, so maybe I I don't know, I could maybe do that. Okay. Um yeah, so that's that's the that's the the tentative plan. And I mean, because like I was telling you initially, everything is surrounding the college. So I'm resigning from you know or retiring from from my from my teaching position, which includes all of the classes, includes the Cascade Wins, it includes the Symphony.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

It does include the wins and those those types of things.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

Those are all college classes.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

Yep. Every single one of the people who play on the stage, they're all registered as a student. Yeah, you know. Um, and uh the tuition is typically paid for by the like the nonprofit organization that helps to support the the organization because the college alone um can't begin to fund all of the activities that any of those given ensembles do, including the Casque Corral and the Big. So I'm saying like this these amazing partnerships.

SPEAKER_03 22:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

That you know, it's it's the community that makes these things work. I mean the college is is a is the is the advocate, it's the it's the home base of it all.

SPEAKER_03 22:18

Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

Um but the reason things thrive is because uh the community wants them and they play, the community wants them and they attend concerts and they and they'll they'll donate some some dollars so that we can buy music and bring in great guest artists and all of those things.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

I saw the last iteration of the wins performance, the one you did at Summit. And uh it was I was amazed. I really was. I mean, I don't I don't know if it's always been at that level of quality, but they played really well, don't they? But they played really pretty well. And I I mean you you did an amazing job. And um I I just thought it was such an asset. It's such a and then when I heard you were retiring, I was like, how do you leave that? Like it's it's a it's such a high performing and I don't want to say it's easy to leave.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Yeah, right. But I you know, sometimes you just know it's the right thing to do.

SPEAKER_03 23:07

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

And it's you know, as my wife says, this won't be the last thing you ever direct. Um, and and and I hope she's right. Um, and but I also I don't look to get a full-time job, you know, doing this work again, but I would love to do more of this work, whether that's just once in a while, whether that's uh there are lots of orchestras that are like the Central Oregon Symphony that are not necessarily associated with the college, they're independent, yeah. Um, who hire a music director or a conductor as their, you know, their permanent person. But because they only do three concerts a year, it's not a full-time gig. Right. Um, and so I mean, I have lots of colleagues in the music business who who do like three or four of those around the country to cobble together a career. Okay. Um and I have no idea how they do that. They've got to spend most of their time on an airplane, you know. Um and and the groups are fun and all of that, but you know, that's that's uh I'm not that person. I don't mind traveling, but like that, I I like being here. Right. And and and comming, you know, kind of committing to doing all good things in this community as opposed to trying to do something in Jackson Hole and do something in Massachusetts and doing yeah, I mean that's yeah, I that would drive me bananas. Um so I if I can find something like that at some point, that would be great and you know, or or not, it's gonna be fun, you know. I I I have no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Yeah. Um have you felt the I mean they talk a lot about the therapeutic benefits of music. And um you know, after a career in in doing this as being, you know, your full-time work, do you feel that? Do you feel like being in this profession has been good for you? Physically.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

I mean, not everybody can say that.

SPEAKER_02 24:58

I can say No. I mean, you know, the the There's a lot of stressful jobs. And I Oh my gosh, for sure. Yeah. But the uh you know, it's it's kind of a joke, right? Like the the the the musicians who who who last the longest, like who who live the longest, are the are the conductors because they're always moving, right? You know, and so as opposed to just sitting down and in and playing the violin, and not that they don't live.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

I thought you were gonna say because the violinists are all cranky and no, I'm trying to avoid those stereotypes, but you're right.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

Um so but I I I'm also more active than many, like I I move a lot. I like that, just I I like that. And so I I'm kind of grateful for that because I'm not a regular exerciser, but like I get regular exercise at least twice a week for two and a half hours doing rehearsals and and all the things.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

Well, I would think you would have to have really good deltoids up here. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

You know, I you know lifting your arms. Just you know, my wife's like, You've been working, heaven. As a matter of fact, I have yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Yeah. I I just I just, you know, and maybe it's the cliche or or what people from the outside imagine as um the benefits of being in the musical arts would be what a great, what a great place to go to work.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

You know, and and uh I mean we talk about that with the with the podcast and some of the stuff we do with media where we get to take a break and we get to come in here and we get to rap with great people. And um it's very calming, you know, for what we do in the rest of our world. And uh, but I I just I mean, personally, I just look at the I look at some a position like yours and I just think, man, he's gonna live forever. Because he he gets he goes to goes to work and takes a sound bath and relaxes. That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

I've never thought about that before. But you know, the the the honest truth of it also is like it's work.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

And so there's a lot of work that's involved. And because of the nature of this particular beast, like I'm the one who sets up the chairs for the rehearsal, and I'm the one who takes things down. And and I get a lot of help. But I mean, but it's not like I just show up and take a sound bath, right? Um, there's it's there's a lot going on as a part of that. And if things aren't going well, that can be pretty it's no different than any other job I've ever had. You know, if you're like, I don't think we're gonna be ready for this concert, that's that's gonna be a problem. What shall we do about that? Um, and you know, half of your job is psychology, right? Uh, in terms of like, how can I get people to do what I think needs to be done in order to get to the performance level that we're striving for. And uh, you know, most of the time we make it, sometimes we're they've started the hiring process for your position? Uh short answer is kind of. Uh, and the reason I say that is that the higher ed in general, there's a there's a time at which you um have to declare that you are retiring. And at that point the college says, we've got five retirements coming up this year, uh, or resignations or whatever. And then they say, Are we going to rehire this position? Are we gonna shift this position to science? Are we gonna, you know, what what are the needs of the institution as a whole? And that date is November 15. And so that's when that's yawn a little too early. But so, but the process is started in the sense that everybody knows I'm leaving, but like the college will on November 15 go through the initial process to say which positions, and I mean, I've got several colleagues that are also retiring. So, like the all of those positions will kind of go in a in a pool, if you will, and they will either be redistributed in a fashion or they or the math person will be replaced by another math person and the music person will and so I'm hopeful that they will do that because the the challenge in central Oregon with just about anything is that uh unless it's a full-time job, people aren't going to move here, right? Unless you're independently wealthy. Yeah. Um, the the work demands um uh uh a person who's committed to this you know um well COCC has always enjoyed like the ancillary benefit of being in Bend, Oregon.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

I mean, the the caliber of the talent up there is incredible.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

No, I I it's I often just am blown away with you know my colleagues having come from an area of the country where community colleges were often thought as like the third choice, you know, kind of a thing. Um, and not in a bad way, but it's just like uh well you can, you know.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

In the South, it's kind of in a bad way. Yeah. I mean, I was blown away when I moved here and saw and it was so robust, yeah, and it was a cultural hub, and there were all these things going on. I was like, this is the community college? Exactly. It was cool.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

So I was totally blown away when I was here and I was like, oh my gosh, like these people, like why would you send your child to University of X for two years when you can, it's half the cost and the teachers are better, right? You know, and then transfer out and and finish your degree, you know. So I completely reversed my my thinking about community colleges um once I was here. And so that was wonderful. So we'll we'll we'll see where it goes. I'm I'm very hopeful that that all will be that it will work out and uh that you know come May that that that's when everything is usually wrapped up and they know who's who's coming.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

So chance they might not refill the position or they could reconfigure the position.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

There's always the chance. Yeah. And I've seen it happen. Uh and but I I I will knock on this very artificial tabletop right here that that will not happen with this, and that they'll be able to bring in uh somebody as a full-time you know.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Oh, we can start the letter writing campaign.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

Yeah, it's it's you know, to me, to me, it's my it's my life. I mean, like that's my work, you know, and so I want it I want it to continue.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Yeah, well Michael, we're at the end of our uh time together. What uh anything we didn't touch on that you'd like to speak to or say to listeners?

SPEAKER_02 31:19

I would love to say thank you to everybody for the 30 years of of just generous giving, whether that's time for the musicians or dollars for the donors or just coming to concerts. I mean, like, oh my gosh, it's it's been it's been amazing. It's been a wonderful place to make music and just be a part of all of that, and the things I've been able to do are just off the charts. Um, and that for those of you who are able and willing to to learn about what could be next with performing arts, especially this performing arts center, like pay attention to that. Yeah, I agree. Because it I want it to happen so bad, I've wanted it to happen for like 25 years. And even though I am not going to be the one who does the first concert in this concert hall, um, I'd like to be one of the people who plants the seeds of the trees that are going to grow up to be that concert hall. And so, you know, go for it.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

When's your uh when can people expect your last performance to be?

SPEAKER_02 32:20

When can they I mean there's still time to see you before you Yeah, so there's a band concert coming up this week, not this weekend, but like next weekend, whatever the 16th. Yeah. Um but then we'll the symphony has February concert and a May concert, and the concert band has a March concert and an end, a very end of May concert, and then we'll probably do a whole opera. Uh, I think we're doing Flater Mouse in June. So like I got a full slate of stuff that's going on. So, you know, I'm I'm looking forward to all of it.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

That's great.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

Well, Michael, thank you for coming in and uh and hopefully we can touch bass uh again before you uh put on those wings and go teach English somewhere or being support to it.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

I would be support. I'm gonna be, you know, I'm the one who like I'm gonna I'm gonna make the food and sweep the apartment, and it's gonna be amazing for me.

SPEAKER_01 33:09

That's great. Well, this has been the Ben Don't Break Podcast. Thank you for listening. If you like what you heard, go to uh Bensource.com, click on that button to become a member and help us continue these types of really cool conversations with uh folks in the community who are doing wonderful things like wins, which was lovely. Uh, we'll add. Thank you. Thank you. You've been listening to the Ben Don't Break podcast, powered by the Source Weekly. To read, hear, and see more of what we do, go to Bensource.com.