Muskegon High School and the Big Red Band

A Toast to loyal hearts

2011-09-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Warren Wickland and his high school girlfriend, here is a poem, penned by Louise Morse - MHS Class of '31, that toasts the Muskegon band.

Click the Image for a larger view

November 1930 monthly Said and Done.

This, of course, references the days before girls were in the marching band.

2011-08-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

Drum line members of the Muskegon High School Marching Band warm up prior to the start of the varsity football game between Muskegon and Macomb Dakota at Hackley Stadium at Muskegon High School on August 25, 2011. (Muskegon Chronicle/Greg Lindstrom)

Zildjian contest puts Muskegon musician back in the limelight

2011-07-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

By Dave LeMieux: Muskegon Chronicle
Published: Friday, August 19, 2011

MUSKEGON — After a decade, local musician Winford Lee Morrisey Jr. again faces what seemed his destiny when he began his final year at Muskegon High School in 2001.

Morrisey recently won a $16,000 prize package — the top award in cymbal maker Avedis Zildjian's national online Drummer Love

Chronicle/Kendra Stanley-MillsWinford "Lee" Morrisey, 26, of Muskegon, opens the new drum kit he received as part of a $16,000 prize package from the Zildjian cymbal maker contest.

An all-star panel of judges watched drum solo videos submitted by more than 1,500 contestants and selected two finalists from each of six regions nationwide. Morrisey ran away with the Midwest North title. He received just under 60 percent of the vote.

“His technical ability is absolutely incredible. It’s easy to see why he was chosen,” said Craig

Goldschmidt, manager of digital media for Zildjian. “Personally, I think he was in the most competitive region, in terms of the finalists.”

Goldschmidt visited Muskegon one recent rainy summer day to personally deliver the prize package which included a complete set of cymbals — the first set of new ones Morrisey has ever owned.
Traveling with Goldschmidt was rock photographer Robert Downs, in Muskegon for a daylong photo shoot for a “DRUM!” magazine feature on Morrisey scheduled for its December issue.

Still at the barbershop when Goldschmidt and Downs arrived to meet him, Morrisey was greeted by a 3-foot-high stack of cardboard boxes piled in the center of his mother’s living room, all stamped with the distinctive “Zildjian” logo.

Although it was far too hot and muggy to be mistaken for Christmastime, there was more than a hint of boyish excitement in Morrisey’s manner as he began to methodically unwrap his prizes.

Chronicle/Kendra Stanley-Mills

Morrisey played the drums in his church for a recent photo shoot with Los Angeles photographer Robert Downs, right, who was using a red-gel flash for a special effect.

Drummer foreverIt was clear from the moment, at age 3, that he began banging on his mother’s pots and pans on the kitchen floor that Morrisey was going to be a drummer.

“He’s been a drum lover forever,” said his mother, Muskegon Housing Commission Executive Director Yvonne Morrisey. “He’s always had a passion for music. He spent hours on end every day practicing.”

From the start, Morrisey’s father, the late Rev. Winford Morrisey, played a pivotal role in his development as a man and as a musician.

Young Morrisey’s infatuation, however, did not cut much ice with his father.

“My dad was a southern guy. He was really hardcore. He didn’t believe in buying things for you because you said you wanted them. He wanted to see if you were serious,” Morrisey said.
His father watched without comment as Morrisey practiced for hours on the homemade drum set he’d cobbled together.

“When he saw I was serious, he said ‘I’ll make the investment and buy you some drums.’”

Chronicle/Kendra Stanley-Mills

An animated Los Angeles photographer, Robert Downs, poses for a photo for Zildjian after Downs was finished taking photos of Morrisey.

Musical growth
Morrisey progressed quickly, playing in church when he was only 10. By the time, as an eighth-grader, he met former Muskegon High band director John Hill, his talent was undeniable.

“I could see that he had talent and he definitely had some aptitude,” Hill remembers. “I could just tell he was passionate, interested and focused.”

Morrisey credits Hill with reinforcing the work ethic his father had already instilled in him.

“Mr. Hill really took me under his wing. He taught me the ropes and took me up to the high school to play as an eighth-grader,” Morrisey remembers.

When Hill accepted a job offer at a school in Holly, he said one of his biggest regrets was not being able to watch Morrisey grow.

And grow he did. He was the top drummer for Muskegon High’s premier jazz band as a freshman, rivaling the prior accomplishments of legendary Big Red drummer Derico Watson (who went on to perform with such A-listers as James Brown, Spyro Gyra, and Earth, Wind and Fire).

Morrisey took all-state honors as a sophomore and was later named top musician overall at the prestigious Western Invitational Jazz Festival at Western Michigan University.

There seemed few limits on the outgoing and likeable Morrisey’s future after high school, said Jim Lawrence, Hill’s successor at MHS. “He could have gone a number of directions: pursued scholarships on a collegiate level, landed a position with a large church or pursued the contemporary music scene professionally.”

Although he winced when Morrisey announced he was going out for the football team, Lawrence gave his blessing, with just one caveat: “I told him, ‘Just make sure to insure your hands. Those hands are golden,’ I told him.”

During the fall of Morrisey’s senior year, Lawrence noticed a shadow clouding Morrisey’s normally sunny disposition. He did not go out for football and was talking about giving up music. His father was gravely ill and Morrisey began working full time.

“You could see the change come over him,” said Lawrence. “Lee (the name Morrisey used in school) had been a big kid until then, carefree and happy-go-lucky. Suddenly, with his father’s illness, he became much more serious about things and about being there for his family.”

Down beat
Family replaced music as the focus of Morrisey’s life. The loss of his father was devastating.

“He was my guide. He would keep me mellow. Any kid can make mistakes, but you need your father there to keep you cool,” Morrisey says.

Without his father as his sounding board, Morrisey felt unprepared to face the challenges and temptations he’d face away from home.

“I felt that if I went off to school I would start partying or maybe take drugs. I ended up going to Muskegon Community College,” Morrisey says.

Focused on providing emotional support for his grieving family, Morrisey’s studies suffered and he lost his financial aid for school.

“I needed to learn to cope by myself,” he said.

Stopped cold

Three years later, Morrisey’s resolve was tested once more.

“When I pulled my glove off, Dude! I almost passed out. I screamed like a girl. The first thing I thought was: ‘I can’t play the drums anymore!’”

Two of his fingers were broken and a third was nearly severed.

It was early 2005. The snowblower Morrisey was using to clear the driveway at his mother’s house had come to a dead stop. As he cleared the heavy mix of slush and snow wedged solidly around the auger, the seemingly stalled machine suddenly roared back to life, smashing Morrisey’ gloved left hand with stunning force.

Emergency surgery saved all his fingers and extensive rehab restored his ability to play the drums.

“To this day, I can’t move my fingers the way I’m supposed to, but I can drum and do what I have to do with them,” Morrisey said.

Kendra Stanley-Mills | The Muskegon Chronicle

Winford "Lee" Morrisey, 26, of Muskegon, plays the drums inside
Great Lakes Kingdom Ministry where he attends church, during a
photo shoot on July 27, 2011. The photo shoot by Los Angeles
photographer Robert Downs, was for Morrisey winning Zildjian's
first-ever Drummer Love contest in which drummers across the
United States competed in six regions. Nearly 1,500 video
submissions were judged by world-renowned drummers and
Morrisey was voted the Midwest-North Region winner. Downs and
Digital Media Manager of Zildjian, Craig Goldschmidt, came to
Muskegon on July 27, 2011 to do a photo shoot for a feature in
DRUM! Magazine and to deliver the merchandise he won.

Day job
Morrisey pursued music part time in the years that followed, but was focused full time on his job as an assistant manager at a discount retail store in Grand Rapids.

His life, it seemed, had turned down a more conventional path. Soon he had a son and later he sold his drum kit to help the boy’s mother finish college.

“We broke up and I was just left with nothing,” he says. “I prayed to God that he would restore everything to me.”

Morrisey was at a low point when he decided to quit his job in 2008.

“I gave it up because I felt like God told me I had greater things in store,” he said.

Back on beat
Morrisey credits Apostle Rodney Savage and Muskegon's Great Lakes Kingdom Ministry with helping to guide and support him through the tough decisions.

Now, three years later, it seems Morrisey has made the right choices.

Currently, he’s studying architecture at Andrews University in Berrien Springs. But he has a tempting offer on the table to follow his first love once more. He’s been touring with gospel singer/songwriter Justin Davis.

“Justin has offered me a place to stay in Atlanta. I could study at the Atlanta Institute of Music and Justin has some contacts with recording studios there,” Morrisey says.

It would mean leaving Muskegon and spending far less time with his 3-year-old son, Adan Lee Morrisey.

“I love my son and I don’t get to see him as much as I want. I keep a picture near my bed and it’s crazy because he looks exactly like me and is starting to do the things I used to do,” Morrisey says.

He recently bought Adan his first drum kit.

Right now, it’s still up in the air whether he’ll stay in Muskegon or move to Atlanta.

“He definitely has the ability to make a living as a musician,” said Goldschmidt.

“He has the same tremendous work ethic that Derico has,” said Lawrence. “The thing Derico was able to do was to meet a number of people in the professional arena and doors opened. I hope the same thing will happen for Lee.”

To view Winford Morrisey Jr.’s winning drum solo, visit:
zildjian.com/DrummerLove/MidwestNorth.

Dave LeMieux is a Chronicle correspondent.

Muskegon voters are asked to approve the building of Nelson School

2010-09-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge

Muskegon's Bunker Junior High - Under construction

2010-09-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge

Jamii Szmadzinski

2010-01-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

Check out the following article on New Age violinist, Jamii Szmedzinski. It comes from the December 13, 2009 edition of the Muskegon Chronicle.

Former 'child genius' fiddling around in Far East

By Dave LeMieux | Muskegon Chronicle
published December 13, 2009

Contributed photo

Jamii Szmadzinski, who still has family in Muskegon, decided at a young age that it was time to move on.TAIWAN — Even after the winter monsoon clears, fog still shrouds the mountains near the tiny apartment in Taiwan that musician and composer Jamii Szmadzinski shares with his wife, Christina Kao.

“We’re outside Taipei, close to the River Bitan,” the Muskegon native said in a recent phone interview.

Although development is encroaching on nearby Sunrise National Park, cranes still rise from the river in scenes that mirror ancient Chinese block prints.

“We didn’t know it would be so attractive (to developers) when we moved here,” Szmadzinski said. “We’re right on the mountainside, but it’s only 15 minutes to Taipei by car.”

Szmadzinski sat for
this photo for The
Muskegon Chronicle
in 1994. He was in
town for a concert
at the Frauenthal.

Although he says he’s a country boy at heart, Szmadzinski, 55, needs to be near the second most congested city in the world in order to pursue his still-hectic music career.

Szmadzinski, who attended Muskegon Public Schools and still has family here, first gained fame in the 1980s as an electric violinist with the popular new-age music group Shadowfax.

Earlier this month, the Universal Peace Federation named Szmadzinski, now a well-established figure on the Asian music scene, as an Ambassador for Peace. Szmadzinski says the federation, which has ties to the Unification Church, has offered to send him on a world concert tour.

In the late 1970s, long before Szmadzinski was famous, now Mona Shores music teacher Rod Schaub recognized the mercurial Szmadzinski’s rare talents.

“He was a child genius,” said Schaub. Schaub, a music student in Boston at the time, became a mentor for the teenage Szmadzinski.

“I’ve never heard him play out of tune and his technique is just phenomenal. He was just born to play the violin and, of course, he works really hard at it,” Schaub said.

Certain at 16 that music was his future, Szmadzinski left home.

“He refused to stay in Muskegon,” Schaub said. “He kept running away and coming to Boston.”

For Szmadzinski, dropping out of high school, moving to Boston and taking private music lessons proved to be the right move, Schaub said.

Szmadzinski studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy, the Boston Conservatory, the Berklee College of Music in Boston and at UCLA.

By the mid-1980s, Szmadzinski was a member of the popular new-age musical group Shadowfax.

After spending time in Muskegon in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Szmadzinski moved to Los Angeles and released the first of his many solo albums.

Over the years since then, his collaborators have included Chick Corea, George Winston, Spyro Gyra, Chet Akins, Earl Klugh, Frank Zappa and Wynton Marsalis.

His most important collaborator turned out to be David Lee, who was a star in Taiwan and did the sound engineering for music Szmadzinski wrote for the trailer of “Superman III.”

The two co-wrote four songs together, including what turned out to be one of the biggest Asian hits of the 1980s.

Szmadzinski says his success in Asia stems from his talent for blending a variety of modern, Western genres with traditional Asian music.

Schaub says there’s always been an important spiritual element to Szmadzinski’s music that he finds easy to express in Eastern genres.

“One of his projects was taking ancient Buddhist chants and putting them to music for the first time ever,” Schaub said.

For the past two decades, Szmadzinski has split time between the United States and Asia — touring, recording and working on film scores.

“Twenty years go by and I ended up working on a TV drama in Shanghai,” Szmadzinski said.

The drama, the 2004 Chinese miniseries “Romance in the White House,” turned out to be a huge hit.

Szmadzinski not only wrote and recorded music for the series, he acted in it as well.

Szmadzinski returned to Los Angeles when work on the series was finished, but he didn’t stay in the U.S. long. Within six months he’d sold his house in the states and moved to Taiwan. He and Kao were married on Dec. 12, 2007.

Szmadzinski said he’s enjoying his life in Asia. “I’m just back from the Shanghai Film Festival and my wife and I are involved in a TV project called ‘The Lost Temple,’ he said.

“A lot of people are opening doors now. China and Taiwan are shaking hands,” Szmadzinski said.

Hollywood and Bollywood are both eager for a share of the huge entertainment market in China, Szmadzinski said.

On the border between East and West, Szmadzinski appears to be the right man, in the right place, at the right time.

Muskegon Mirror - Fall Edition

2009-12-27T09:37:00.000-08:00

Band Camp

Through the eyes of the drum majors

When asked to think about the above statement made Smith became silent. Was it because he didn't need another assignment due to his juggling football and drum major duties or because his brain was thinking back to those days at Grace adventures in late August?

Many Big Red Band students had sectional practices, weekly color guard and percussion rehearsals throughout the summer. Drum majors begin their own preparation by studying musical scores, recordings,vocal commands and conducting techniques. But the official band camp adventure begins early in August when most students and teachers were still enjoying the last few weeks of summer. The students and directors of the Big Red Marching Band begin their preseason rehearsals with "two a day" practices known as pre-band camp week. After this intensive week, the students, directors, camp nurse, auxiliary staff, and chaperones pack up their equipment and head to Grace Adventures Youth Camp in Mears, MI for an even more intensive experience lasting four nights in five days.

Three students in particular have a very important role in the success of the Big Red Band. They are the drum majors, who are the student leaders of the group. Nate Smith (senior), Elijah Curry (Junior) and Molly Christopherson (Junior) returning drum majors for the 2009 Big Red Marching Band. They help teach the new band members, push the returning members to be better, and keep the focus of all the students during rehearsals. They also organize freshmen/senior buddies, they protect the traditions that make the Big Red Band strong, they conduct, they march, they drive... in short they lead!

"Yes, being a drum major is demanding at times, but it not only helps the band get better, it helps us become stronger leaders," says Elijah Curry. Molly Christopherson adds, "Band Camp takes dedication, determination, discipline, trust, heart and respect. I really do care about this program and realize how 'big' it is. I believe if I show that, others will pick him on my attitude. I want the other members to respect the band like I do." Nate Smith says, "I feel like the drum major is sort of the 'poster child' for the band. If I am positive and respectful, then the other members will follow my leadership. I can see why the directors get so frustrated. It takes a lot of patience and determination to be a drum major, but the satisfaction at the end of a successful season makes it all worthwhile."

The drum majors see band camp as an opportunity for all band members to be focused without the distractions of school and home. Elijah Curry said, "I believe that we accomplish much more while at band camp because we see people as they really are. We see the good, the bad, and everything in between. But, we still make it work." Molly Christopherson agrees and says, "We actually get stuff done. Band Camp takes you away from your other problems, you get lost in the music." However all of them believe the most important goal of band camp is for the members to bond together and become a family. "You have no choice but to become family because you are with each other 24/7." Nate Smith became quiet again. He looked up and said, "I do a lot of things, but I need this band. It's just part of who I am."

Muskegon school students want your musical instruments

2009-09-14T02:54:00.000-07:00

by Lynn Moore | The Muskegon Chronicle
Monday December 01, 2008, 11:21 PM

If your dad's old trumpet is gathering dust in the attic, or your son's violin -- that he tried and gave up -- has been relegated to a closet, Muskegon Public Schools has a better place for them.

The school district's music program is looking for donated instruments that will allow children, whose families can't afford to purchase instruments, to participate in band or orchestra.

While the district provides larger, very expensive instruments, like French horns, oboes, basses and cellos, it's up to students to provide most other instruments. If their parents can't afford to buy or rent instruments -- or don't have the credit needed to enter a lease agreement -- children are out of luck, and participating in band isn't an option for them.

The cost of renting instruments can range from $25 to $50 per month.

"There are kids who cannot be in the band program for the simple fact they cannot get an instrument -- it's impossible for them," said Janice Lawrence, director of Muskegon's instrumental music program.

At the same time, Lawrence said, "there are homes within our district, within Muskegon County, where instruments are sitting there not being used."

"We can take that instrument and give it to a kid so they can be in band," she said.

The district will provide a receipt so that donors can claim a tax deduction for their donation.

The district is seeking all types of instruments used in band and orchestra programs, including flutes, violas, clarinets, violins, trombones and cellos.

Lawrence estimates that 20 to 60 middle school students each year can't participate in band because they don't have instruments. Most students wanting to be in band or orchestra need to begin before high school, or they simply can't catch up, Lawrence said.

Kathy Cron, the district's orchestra director, said she hasn't had to turn away students, but they often have to switch to instruments that weren't their first choice.

"We need all the instruments," Cron said. "Even if they're broken, we can have them repaired."

She estimated 80 percent of her students can't afford to provide their own instruments -- compared with a few years ago when 75 percent could.

"We're just in a bad way right now," Cron said.

Music helps with brain development, providing students instruction in "another foreign language" as well as mathematics concepts, Lawrence and Cron said.

"But bigger than that, it's belonging to a group and understanding they are parts of a whole," Lawrence said. "They are responsible to people in the group. ... It's a family thing that they do."

Cron said music helps students academically and socially.

"These kids don't get in trouble because they're busy," she said. "We're making music together, we're not going out to look for things to do. ... These children are motivated."

At Muskegon High, the marching band is an important part of the school's storied tradition, Lawrence said.

"When they leave as seniors we have had them for seven years, and it is a part of who they are as a person," she said. "It's huge."

Contact the Instrumental Music Department at 231-720-2850

The address is:

Instrumental Music Dept.
c/o Muskegon High School
80 W. Southern Ave.
Muskegon, MI 49441

Return from Band Camp 2009

2009-08-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 26, marked the return of the Big Red Marching Band from a short trip north taken to prepare for the 2009 season.

Met with wild applause as they hit the field at Hackley Stadium, the band presented highlights from their upcoming halftime show, featuring the music of The Beatles.

Don't miss it!

Click on an image to enlarge it.

Camper awards: Veterans - Misty Harden and Kyesha Noble
New Camper - Emily Ferris

Camper awards: Veteran - Corey Bankhead
New Camper - Owen Verge

The Tunnel

2009-06-05T02:42:00.000-07:00

Jamie Pesch
Johnson
Creative Writing
29 May 2009

The Tunnel

I hear cheering, music and chanting. The buzzer sounds, and the

people line my walls like sardines in a can. It's dark outside, but

bright in here, for my lights glow with a strong intensity. My walls

are now completely plastered with bodies, and I hear the distant

beat. The deep pounding, like the heartbeat I never had. The sound

grows louder, and the source comes into view. The gleaming brass,

swinging through the air to the rhythm of the drums. Endless rows

of night black and blood red uniforms passing by, one after another.

The strong look on their faces illustrates the meaning of the word

"Pride." I think back and remember the man who started it all,

William Stewart. He started the Friday night tradition; he started

the event that gives me life. I see the people pursuing behind the

band. Within minutes, my tunnel is empty. I am alone again. There

is always an eerie emptiness left behind when my walls are bare.

It could be the spirits of past tradition. Either way, I am dormant,

yet again.

No Girls Allowed

2009-04-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

From the March 1942 monthly edition of Said and Done:

As one sits in the auditorium and listens to the band play, it seems almost unbelievable that when it was first formed it was considered bad taste to have a band play indoors.

Since the formation of our band 32 years ago, it has grown to have a vital part of some of our most impressive assemblies.

Mr .Robinson was hired as director of instrumental music in 1910. The instruments of the band he organized were valued at only $800. This is a small figure when we consider that the instruments today are valued at over $20,000.

In 1912 the band was made up of 17 players. Here again we have a great contrast with the 110 piece band of today.

The first band uniforms were purchased in 1921. They were gray in military style. In 1925 they replaced their gray military outfits with red and white uniforms. During the last depressions the band was unable to spend much money for such things as uniforms. However, by 1936 the band had accumulated enough money to purchase their present red and black uniforms.

Today girls are a great asset to our band; yet before 1937 they were not even allowed to join.

The band first participated in the May Festival in 1926.Today we all look forward to Thursday night during the May Festival. This is a band night, and we hear selections by our band and by the bands of all the neighboring towns.

For the past four years our band has gotten a highly superior rating at the Holland Tulip Festival. It was the first high school band in the country to broadcast on a regular schedule.

The intermission between the halves of the football game would be a very boring period if it wasn't for the band and their splendid maneuvers.

A welcome addition was made to the band this year with the arrival of Mr. Cochrane as assistant director to Mr. Stewart. We all hope that they'll both be back next year leading our band to more fame and glory.

Interesting place - Facebook

2009-04-04T18:02:00.001-07:00

Got a Facebook page? If so, check out some of the following groups

Start a discussion, write on a wall, add photos, post some video or start your own group.

Looks like the place to be in 2009!

Annual Big Red Band Flower Sale

2009-04-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

Spring is just around the corner. Time for the Big Red Band's Annual Flower Sale. Click on this image for a large, printable version of the order form.

Call Deb Wells at 231-773-8433 by April 27th to place your order!

You can also mail in your order to:

MHS Music Department Office
c/o Deb Wells
80 West Southern Ave
Muskegon, MI 49441

Make your check payable to:
Muskegon High School Band Parent Association

Flowers arrive on May 7th and can be picked up anytime between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. at the south end of historic Hackley Stadium!

High School Band to be Organized - 1921

2009-03-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

Check out this wonderful find from 1921 on a watershed event in the band's history. Later day yearbooks indicate that the proper spelling of the name of the director of the band as Carl Cerconi. Click on the image for a larger view of the article.

Check out some images from the band's history by clicking HERE!

Welcome to the Muskegon High School Band Blog!

2009-03-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Blog for events related to the Muskegon High School Big Red Band. This site will include a host of items, including upcoming events, historical articles, information on fundraisers, and assorted other items of interest to current and former band members, as well as to those who simply enjoy the band.

Visit often to see what "What's Going On".

Muskegon High School and the Big Red Band

A Toast to loyal hearts

Zildjian contest puts Muskegon musician back in the limelight

By Dave LeMieux: Muskegon ChroniclePublished: Friday, August 19, 2011

Muskegon voters are asked to approve the building of Nelson School

Muskegon's Bunker Junior High - Under construction

Jamii Szmadzinski

Former 'child genius' fiddling around in Far East

By Dave LeMieux | Muskegon Chroniclepublished December 13, 2009

Muskegon Mirror - Fall Edition

Muskegon school students want your musical instruments

by Lynn Moore | The Muskegon Chronicle Monday December 01, 2008, 11:21 PM

Return from Band Camp 2009

The Tunnel

No Girls Allowed

Interesting place - Facebook

Annual Big Red Band Flower Sale

High School Band to be Organized - 1921

Welcome to the Muskegon High School Band Blog!

By Dave LeMieux: Muskegon Chronicle
Published: Friday, August 19, 2011

By Dave LeMieux | Muskegon Chronicle
published December 13, 2009

by Lynn Moore | The Muskegon Chronicle
Monday December 01, 2008, 11:21 PM