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Former TBDBITL Director Dr. Jon Woods Passes Away
Charles via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Yesterday Buckeye Nation lost a great man as Dr. Jon Woods, former director of The Ohio State University Marching Band, passed away. Dr. Woods was director of the marching band from 1984 to 2012 and is survived by his wife, Donna, a son, Stephen, and a daughter, Victoria; he was preceded in death by his daughter Catherine.
Dr. Woods earned his Bachelors of Arts in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and then earned a Master of Arts in Music Education from Penn State and a PhD in Music Education from the University of Michigan; not exactly the schools that you think would end up producing a future director of TBDBITL and a devoted Buckeye fan. Woods first saw the OSUMB perform at a game in Ann Arbor in 1973 and said to a friend “now there’a band” , never imagining he would one day be leading that band. Dr. Woods didn’t have to wait long before becoming involved with TBDBITL as he took a position as Associate Director of the OSUMB in 1974; a position he would hold for 10 years.
Dr. Woods (left), Woody (center), and Dr. Paul Droste (right).
In 1984 Director Dr. Paul Droste retired and Dr. Woods was promoted to be the director of TBDBITL. He immediately faced a challenge as the athletic department had decided to move the flag pole in Ohio Stadium from the south end to the north end. While this move seemed simple, it actually threatened the band’s traditional ramp entrance. After some time in the stadium, with the help of some of the OSUMB student staff, Dr. Woods realized that the normal ramp entrance could be kept and the band would add a step-forward-about-face after finishing “Buckeye Battle Cry”; the simple solution worked and thus the version of the ramp entrance that fans see today was born.
The Woods era got off to a great start as TBDBITL won the Sudler Trophy in 1984; the Sudler is considered the Heisman of college marching bands. The OSUMB was the third school to ever win the trophy which can only be awarded to a school once. The Sudler wouldn’t be the last award won by the band under Dr. Woods as USA Today would name the OSUMB the “Nation’s No. 1 Marching Band” in 1986.
Dr. Woods would serve as the director of the OSUMB for 27 years, the second longest term of any director which was beaten only by the Gustave Bruder, the band’s first director, who held the post for 32 years. To mark his retirement, the current band and dozens of alumni showed up outside Dr. Woods’ house and played a concert; this is a tradition of the band upon the retirement of directors and certain other people that the band is very fond of. Dr. Woods was also given the honor of dotting the ‘i’ in Script Ohio at his last game against Penn State on November 19th, 2011. This was the first time the band performed Script Ohio twice in a single game but was done because the students wanted to honor their retiring director; the band would also spell out ‘Woods’ on the field as part of that halftime show, a chart that was added without Dr. Woods’s knowledge.
Dr. Woods made several changes to the instrumentation of the marching band which helped improve its musical ability while still keeping its unique and traditional sound. Under Dr. Woods the band switched from 14 inch cymbals to 16 inch cymbals, introduced tonal base drums, replaced E-Flat alto horns with mellophones in the key of F, replaced tri-toms with quad-toms and later quints, and added bass trombones. The band also began its popular annual tradition of performing with the Columbus Symphony at “Picnic with the Pops”. To help with designing more innovative drills, Dr. Woods introduced computer-aided drill design to the band.
It would be easy to go on with the important contributions Dr. Woods made to TBDBITL and pages could be filled with a discussion of the impact of his drill design and music selection. However, anyone who has seen the band perform can appreciate Dr. Woods’ contributions to not only keeping the OSUMB at the top of the college marching band world but elevating it to new levels of excellence. Woods’s impact went beyond just the OSUMB as he also did numerous high school band clinics, founded the Big Ten-Pac 12 Marching Band Committee, and co-founded the College Band Directors National Association Marching and Athletic Band Symposium.
Dr. Woods holding his daughter Catherine at a game.
Summing up Dr. Woods’s accomplishments based just on the achievements of the OSUMB would be dramatically short changing him. He was a devoted husband and father and there are numerous stories amongst band alumni about how proud he was when his children were born and how his children became part of the band family. He was also an amazing teacher and advisor, something that can be attested to by the fact that several of his students and assistant directors have gone on to be directors of major college marching bands and hundreds more have become high school directors.
Even those who weren’t music majors were impacted by Dr. Woods and after news of his declining health was announced, his Facebook page was filled with stories from people talking about how he encouraged them to try out for the band and how he impacted their lives and he definitely impacted mine. After some bad luck with my health during my first two years of trying out for the OSUMB, I was starting to wonder if I just wasn’t meant to be in the band and if it was worth trying out again. I ran into Dr. Woods at the band center on the first day of athletic band my sophomore year and he commented about my bad luck and then told me that from what he had seen out there, I was good and could make the band, words that I really needed to hear then. He turned out to be right; I made the marching band the next year and I will be forever grateful to Dr. Woods for helping convince me to come back and try again as being in the band was one of the best things I’ve done in my life and still continues to impact my life in amazing ways that I never would have expected.
During an interview, Dr. Woods was once asked about his legacy and he responded “my students are my legacy.” Considering the thousands of students he has taught who have gone on to become high school or college band directors, professional musicians, professionals in other fields who still play an instrument as a hobby, or just people who maintain a love for bands and music, I think it is safe to say that Dr. Woods has left a massive legacy that will not soon be forgotten.
Yesterday was the marching band alumni football and over 600 alumni joined with TBDBITL for the pregame and halftime show. Normally reunion weekend is a joyous occasion but this year’s had a much more somber tone as the current band and the alumni were informed of Dr. Woods’ passing at the end of morning rehearsal. In some ways it seems appropriate that Dr. Woods would pass away that morning on the day when hundreds of people whose lives he had impacted were together and could support each other while doing something that he and they all loved. We will miss you Dr. Woods, your legacy was on the field Saturday will be every Saturday to come.
https://vimeo.com/137428002
The post Former TBDBITL Director Dr. Jon Woods Passes Away appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
Charles via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Yesterday Buckeye Nation lost a great man as Dr. Jon Woods, former director of The Ohio State University Marching Band, passed away. Dr. Woods was director of the marching band from 1984 to 2012 and is survived by his wife, Donna, a son, Stephen, and a daughter, Victoria; he was preceded in death by his daughter Catherine.Dr. Woods earned his Bachelors of Arts in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and then earned a Master of Arts in Music Education from Penn State and a PhD in Music Education from the University of Michigan; not exactly the schools that you think would end up producing a future director of TBDBITL and a devoted Buckeye fan. Woods first saw the OSUMB perform at a game in Ann Arbor in 1973 and said to a friend “now there’a band” , never imagining he would one day be leading that band. Dr. Woods didn’t have to wait long before becoming involved with TBDBITL as he took a position as Associate Director of the OSUMB in 1974; a position he would hold for 10 years.
Dr. Woods (left), Woody (center), and Dr. Paul Droste (right).
In 1984 Director Dr. Paul Droste retired and Dr. Woods was promoted to be the director of TBDBITL. He immediately faced a challenge as the athletic department had decided to move the flag pole in Ohio Stadium from the south end to the north end. While this move seemed simple, it actually threatened the band’s traditional ramp entrance. After some time in the stadium, with the help of some of the OSUMB student staff, Dr. Woods realized that the normal ramp entrance could be kept and the band would add a step-forward-about-face after finishing “Buckeye Battle Cry”; the simple solution worked and thus the version of the ramp entrance that fans see today was born.
The Woods era got off to a great start as TBDBITL won the Sudler Trophy in 1984; the Sudler is considered the Heisman of college marching bands. The OSUMB was the third school to ever win the trophy which can only be awarded to a school once. The Sudler wouldn’t be the last award won by the band under Dr. Woods as USA Today would name the OSUMB the “Nation’s No. 1 Marching Band” in 1986.
Dr. Woods would serve as the director of the OSUMB for 27 years, the second longest term of any director which was beaten only by the Gustave Bruder, the band’s first director, who held the post for 32 years. To mark his retirement, the current band and dozens of alumni showed up outside Dr. Woods’ house and played a concert; this is a tradition of the band upon the retirement of directors and certain other people that the band is very fond of. Dr. Woods was also given the honor of dotting the ‘i’ in Script Ohio at his last game against Penn State on November 19th, 2011. This was the first time the band performed Script Ohio twice in a single game but was done because the students wanted to honor their retiring director; the band would also spell out ‘Woods’ on the field as part of that halftime show, a chart that was added without Dr. Woods’s knowledge.
Dr. Woods made several changes to the instrumentation of the marching band which helped improve its musical ability while still keeping its unique and traditional sound. Under Dr. Woods the band switched from 14 inch cymbals to 16 inch cymbals, introduced tonal base drums, replaced E-Flat alto horns with mellophones in the key of F, replaced tri-toms with quad-toms and later quints, and added bass trombones. The band also began its popular annual tradition of performing with the Columbus Symphony at “Picnic with the Pops”. To help with designing more innovative drills, Dr. Woods introduced computer-aided drill design to the band.It would be easy to go on with the important contributions Dr. Woods made to TBDBITL and pages could be filled with a discussion of the impact of his drill design and music selection. However, anyone who has seen the band perform can appreciate Dr. Woods’ contributions to not only keeping the OSUMB at the top of the college marching band world but elevating it to new levels of excellence. Woods’s impact went beyond just the OSUMB as he also did numerous high school band clinics, founded the Big Ten-Pac 12 Marching Band Committee, and co-founded the College Band Directors National Association Marching and Athletic Band Symposium.
Dr. Woods holding his daughter Catherine at a game.
Summing up Dr. Woods’s accomplishments based just on the achievements of the OSUMB would be dramatically short changing him. He was a devoted husband and father and there are numerous stories amongst band alumni about how proud he was when his children were born and how his children became part of the band family. He was also an amazing teacher and advisor, something that can be attested to by the fact that several of his students and assistant directors have gone on to be directors of major college marching bands and hundreds more have become high school directors.
Even those who weren’t music majors were impacted by Dr. Woods and after news of his declining health was announced, his Facebook page was filled with stories from people talking about how he encouraged them to try out for the band and how he impacted their lives and he definitely impacted mine. After some bad luck with my health during my first two years of trying out for the OSUMB, I was starting to wonder if I just wasn’t meant to be in the band and if it was worth trying out again. I ran into Dr. Woods at the band center on the first day of athletic band my sophomore year and he commented about my bad luck and then told me that from what he had seen out there, I was good and could make the band, words that I really needed to hear then. He turned out to be right; I made the marching band the next year and I will be forever grateful to Dr. Woods for helping convince me to come back and try again as being in the band was one of the best things I’ve done in my life and still continues to impact my life in amazing ways that I never would have expected.
During an interview, Dr. Woods was once asked about his legacy and he responded “my students are my legacy.” Considering the thousands of students he has taught who have gone on to become high school or college band directors, professional musicians, professionals in other fields who still play an instrument as a hobby, or just people who maintain a love for bands and music, I think it is safe to say that Dr. Woods has left a massive legacy that will not soon be forgotten.
Yesterday was the marching band alumni football and over 600 alumni joined with TBDBITL for the pregame and halftime show. Normally reunion weekend is a joyous occasion but this year’s had a much more somber tone as the current band and the alumni were informed of Dr. Woods’ passing at the end of morning rehearsal. In some ways it seems appropriate that Dr. Woods would pass away that morning on the day when hundreds of people whose lives he had impacted were together and could support each other while doing something that he and they all loved. We will miss you Dr. Woods, your legacy was on the field Saturday will be every Saturday to come.
https://vimeo.com/137428002
The post Former TBDBITL Director Dr. Jon Woods Passes Away appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...