Do you know how much self control it required for me to not post about this online?! Me – the person who posts pictures of things as minor as “hey, look, I got a new cocktail recipe book.” That meant that I had to resist posting on Facebook or Twitter or here on the blog anything about the writing process. Dick couldn’t know about it until he showed up at the concert where the piece would premiere. One of the coolest things about this commission was that it had to remain a surprise. And it was for Dick Floyd, so it had to be… good. That meant that I now had to write that 15-minute piece that I never expected to write. To my shock, Dick announced that he was retiring at the end of the school year. This commission was the greatest gig ever! I’d take the money but never have to actually write the piece! $CORE!Īnd as I expected, two years passed and no retirement! And then, last September, I got an email from Scott Hanna. If you’ve ever met Dick Floyd, you’d have a hard time imagining him “retiring.” In fact, I was convinced he’d never retire. But you have to keep it secret until the concert. Scott: He hasn’t announced his retirement yet, so we just need the piece in time to premiere it as soon as he announces his retirement. Me: Absolutely, no question, I would love to do this. We’ll surprise him with the piece at a concert in his honor. Scott: We’d like to commission you to write a piece for Dick Floyd’s retirement. Scott Hanna, one of the UT conductors, first contacted me about the project in August 2010 - nearly three years ago. In honor of his retirement from UIL, UT asked me to write a piece for him.
High school bands in Texas are legendary, and it’s in no small part due to the influence of Richard Floyd. And it’s that job from which he’s retiring this spring. His “day job” is - or was - State Director of Music at the University of Texas at Austin (UIL), where he (to put it as simply as possible) ran the state’s massive solo and ensemble (3500 performing organizations!) contest system. He’s been the Texas Bandmasters Association Bandmaster of the Year. He’s a member of the American Bandmasters Association’s Board of Directors (through which he commissioned the band version of my piece, “ Strange Humors“). He’s given hundreds if not thousands of clinics all over the world. He was Director of Bands at Baylor for nine years. He’s been a conductor and music educator for 50 years.
If you’re a music educator, particularly in the state of Texas, you probably know who Richard Floyd is.
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