Maine Motif Issue 2, Vol. II (Winter, 2018) | Page 32

over the country, that influenced my ears and aspirations, while providing me with
growth opportunities beyond what I was able to appreciate in the moment. In time, I
came to appreciate and understand just how important my time in the West Point Band
would benefit me as an artist teacher, musician and citizen.
Following my discharge from the US Army in 1967, I returned to Ithaca, as a veteran, a
father, and graduate student. As an older, wiser and more mature student, the faculty
offered me experiences above and beyond anything I could have hoped for. I was a
graduate student with teaching status. I had a studio, taught classes, conducted the
brass ensemble, performed in the brass quintet and Concert Band; Walter Beeler’s last
year as conductor. I am forever grateful for the many Ithaca College faculty that
reached out to me and nourished my potential, during this most formative time in my
development.”
In 1969, Rowell was hired to teach instrumental music in Springfield, Vermont Public
Schools. After a few years, he became aware that conducting was his applied teaching
instrument. He realized that his podium skills, though adequate, were limiting his
potential and effectiveness. In the summer of 1974, he attended a conducting
workshop, at his alma mater, where he met the legendary Frederick Fennell, founder
of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. Rowell was attracted to Dr. Fennell’s boundless
energy, pedagogical skill, in depth knowledge of literature and communicative podium
chops.
At the conclusion of the workshop, Rowell was among a select few invited to conduct
on the final concert, an experience he describes as “thrilling, nerve-wracking and
confirming.”
“The message was loud and clear; while I was not responsible for innate talent, I was,
indeed, responsible to nurture it……..a challenge that served as motivation throughout
my career.”
He commented that Dr. Fennell’s recordings remain among the most celebrated
documents of our time.
In 1975 Rowell attended the Band Conductors’ Art Symposium at the University of
Michigan where he met H. Robert Reynolds, Carl St. Clair and Allan McMurray.
“Time spent with these clinicians was crucial to clarifying my aspirations, creating
standards and expectations while deepening my creative and imaginative role as an
artist/teacher/musician. Bob Reynolds became a model and a mentor. He taught me to
to open myself to myself, to create a more trusting environment thus respecting the
significance of spontaneity and vulnerability; essential qualities to creating and
experiencing the aesthetic.”
In 1978, Rowell was appointed Director of Bands, Professor of Music Education at
what was then the University of Maine Portland/Gorham, now the University of
Southern Maine. The USM position was lined with growth opportunity as well as the