September 2009
Volume 75, Number 1

Editorial

Patrick Deaville 

Yes.  THE LOUSISANA MUSICIAN is celebrating its 75^th anniversary this year.  As the official journal of the Louisiana Music Educator Association, the magazine has morphed through many formats.  It has grown from a single sheet newsletter prepared on an old manual typewriter to a mimeographed/stapled publication to a magazine over the years.  It has changed content, editors and appearance.  But it has always served LMEA as a unifying source filled with information, opinions and updates.  In many ways it has been the “face” of our state organization as seen by a national audience.

Over the past few months, I have browsed over past issues of THE LOUISIANA MUSICIAN.  It was more than a nostalgic trip for me.  It reinforced my belief that much of the history of music education in Louisiana lies between the covers of these issues.   Past editors such as Howard Voorhies, Tom Wafer, and Francis Bulber were meticulous in choosing photos and printing articles/editorials that gave the magazine a flavor of immediacy, but also gave us a window into the times in which they served.

I intentionally dug into the archives to find photos and bits of information from the past.  As you look at the photos in this issue, you may or may not recognize the faces.  Many of our younger teachers look at me as an “old timer”.  But my generation is indebted to a previous generation of founding fathers. Some of their pictures are on display in this issue.  They were the “brain trust” that gave us LMEA and truly created music education in Louisiana’s public and private schools.

It is my hope, during this anniversary year, to publish not only pictures but also special reflections on the past.  It is important to revisit the lives of men and women like Sam Burns, Lloyd Funchess, Bob Gilmore, Ralph Pottle, Brad Daigle, Louise Alton, Polly Gibbs, L. Bruce Jones, Walter Minniear, Harold Ramsey, LaVerne Irvine and so many more.  If you don’t recognize some of these names, then you are in for a treat in the upcoming year as I reveal their stories.

Jim Trant (our LMEA webmaster) and I will work in partnership to bring these people to life in the magazine and on the website.  Enjoy.