New Horizons International Music Association

Meet the members of the Board of Directors of New Horizons International Music Association. In addition, meet the Newsletter Editor and the NHIMA Webmaster. Click on a name to read about that person. You can send an e-mail to any of them by clicking on their name in their biography.

Iris Othrow
President, NHIMA Board of Directors

I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I played baritone horn in high school band and loved it. Because I didn't own the horn, upon graduation the horn had to stay with the school. Over the years I longed to have a band experience but never had an opportunity or an instrument to play.

I married Michael in 1957 and we have four children and eight grandchildren. I graduated in 1972 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a degree in education. While teaching I continued my education and in 1975 earned a master of science degree. I taught first or second grade for 29 years at McFarland Elementary School in McFarland, Wisconsin before retiring in 2001.

The event that brought me back to making music was when our home was totally destroyed by a tornado on June 17, 1992. That’s when I read about the New Horizons Band being formed at Ward-Brodt Music Mall in Madison. So, I joined the band, rented my horn and got started. What fun! Music quickly helped make our new house a home. We went from playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to more challenging music quite quickly. Mike faithfully attended my concerts and even went with me to band camp in Colorado. We made great friends and had band parties at our home. Mike was teased about being a band "Groupie" and asked when he was going to join the fun and play something. Well, after a Wisconsin band camp in 1995 he said, "I’d like to play the trombone." He didn't even know how to read music. But with determination, a good instructor, practice and friends who welcomed him (mistakes and all) he now plays first trombone parts and we enjoy the band as a couple.

I have served on the Hooked on Bands (support group for the Madison New Horizons Band) Board of Directors. I have helped organize the Door County Band Weekend Camp that is held in Baileys Harbor in September.

Besides music I enjoy travel, reading, church activities, volunteer ushering at the Overture Center in Madison, and spending time with family.

Nancy Wombacher
Vice President, NHIMA Board of Directors

My "formal" instrumental music training began in the 3rd grade drum and bugle corps. Double Forte was my specialty. From there, I moved to cornet, and since there were only about 50 total students in our high school, we "grade school" kids were included in the "school band." I LOVED playing in the band. Herbert Jones, the high school band director, was my idol. He played trumpet, and he arranged for us to see Rafael Mendez (in person) in concert in the Washington (Iowa) school gymnasium.

In 1957, I married my best friend and dance partner, Ray. We have 5 wonderful children, and 10 brilliant and beautiful grandchildren. However, during the "family/college/career" years, there was never time or opportunity to play the cornet, and for 40 years it remained in the case.

When our youngest child started kindergarten, I started as a freshman at the University of Iowa, finished a degree in education, and substitute taught for one year. Because one of the few teaching jobs available in 1975 was 50 air miles from Sitka, Alaska (and my family declined the opportunity to pursue this adventure), I accepted a position in administration at the University of Iowa, where I also continued my education as a part-time student in the Master's program in Hospital and Health Administration. I served as Administrator to the Department of Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine for almost 20 years, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I retired in 1994 to travel with my husband and to attend grandchildren’s band and choral concerts, soccer & football games, track meets, dance and piano recitals, school programs, first communions and graduations.

Soon after retiring, I learned of the Iowa City New Horizons band, and visited a rehearsal at the Iowa City Senior Center. Even though I had not played in 40 years, I was welcomed by Dr. Don Coffman, Director of the Iowa City New Horizons Band. That was more than 10 years ago. I have been playing (my husband would say, continuously) ever since. In addition to the concert band, I play in several other small groups: a brass quintet, a polka band and a swing band. Recently I played in a pit band for the musical, "My Fair Lady." This was a challenge given the number of sharps in that kind of music. One of the highlights of my "music" life was in 2002 when I played with the Eastern Iowa Brass Band at the International Brass Bands Competition in Cincinnati; and an equally fantastic experience was in 2003 when our brass quintet was invited to play at the national AARP convention at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.

New Horizons has opened doors for me that I didn’t even know existed.

Lisann Gurney
Secretary, NHIMA Board of Directors

Lisann Gurney is a full-time mom of two young children, a student of Iyengar yoga, a classroom volunteer, a church vestry member, and an avid music student, active in the Grand Rapids Grand Band, as well as the Rockford Community Band and small ensembles in her church. In addition to studying flute privately, Lisann has taken on the challenge of piano lessons this year, through which she has gained a lot of respect and admiration for adult learners!!

Lisann moved to Grand Rapids two and a half years ago with her family, and when her children attended a summer camp at the St. Cecilia Music Society, discovered the New Horizons Grand Band. She brushed twenty years of dust from her flute, and since then has rediscovered the joys of playing, which are only increased by playing in such a warm and welcoming group. She was active in organizing a band exchange last summer with the London, Ontario UWO New Horizons band, and attended her first ever band camp at Interlochen last August.

"Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life, bringing peace, abolishing strife." –Khalil Gibran

Roy Hendrick
Treasurer, NHIMA Board of Directors

I came from a family with a great interest in music but no great musical talent other than dexterous fingers. I can remember, as a boy, going around the Los Angeles area to attend musical productions. From the time my front teeth were in, I played the clarinet, and in high school, added the saxophone, playing in school bands, orchestras and dance bands. I continued playing through college until graduate school at Stanford took over my life. I graduated in 1947 and received a PhD in physics in 1956.

I worked mostly in contract Defense Systems research and consulting. I concentrated on atmospherics, radar and infrared systems and am still working on the latter in Santa Barbara, California. My wife, Lani, has given up asking when I will retire because I prefer doing my physics to playing golf. Being senior and a chief scientist has the advantage of being able to take off on trips whenever I want. Lani is a "Band Aide" with the Prime Time band and loves going to music camps where she can sleep in, read books, visit art shops, etc.

We have 11 grandchildren who have taken up numerous instruments: piano, cello, violin, flute, bells, drums, and most recently, bassoon! After a yearlong campaign, a couple of friends who were in the Prime Time Band talked me into going back to playing after a 50 year hiatus. After playing the clarinet a couple of years, I realized that the band had ample very good clarinet players but no oboe. What an opportunity!! The intricacies of the fingering still get to me at times. Luckily, I have a friend who is a professional oboist in Atlanta who periodically sends me reeds.

I met Roy Ernst at band camps. (He even let me play oboe in his flute choir on the condition I make it sound like a flute. So I became an honorary "double reed flute.") Roy Ernst’s enthusiasm about the national New Horizons Bands is infectious, so here I am. I would be glad to answer any correspondence you send my way!

Pam Bolton
Member, NHIMA Board of Directors

My name is Pam Bolton, and I reside in a wonderful area of Ontario, Canada called "The Kawartha Lakes." Our home is located on the Otonobee river and is about five miles outside the city of Peterborough. My husband Allan and I have a blended family of four married sons, three daughters-in-law and six beautiful grandchildren.

In April 2001 I retired from my position as Production Coordinator/Manager for the Canadian division of Liberty Mutual Insurance company. A year after I retired my former high school music teacher, Peter Ford, called and asked me if I would be interested in playing again as he was starting a New Horizons Band in Peterborough. I attended his first information meeting, fell in love with the whole NHB concept and I immediately jumped on the "band wagon." I have never looked back, and I readily and happily admit that it has taken over my life. I play alto sax in a Wind Ensemble, a Swing Band, a 20 piece band that performs at most of the retirement homes and a sax quartet.

I cannot seem to attend any social event in the community without sharing my excitement about "New Horizons" and inviting others to join. All our retirement plans have had to be revised to accommodate my music, so our travels in our motor home aren’t as frequent as planned, and quite often include a music camp, or I make prior arrangements to sit in with other New Horizons bands while travelling. To date, I have had the pleasure of sitting in with the Roswell, Georgia NHB, the Elkhart, Indiana NHB and in January and February I hope to play with the Desert Foothills NHB in Phoenix, Arizona.

The New Horizons organization has provided so much enjoyment and opportunity to so many people in so many places and the opportunity for continued growth has no boundaries. I consider it a privilege to belong to NHIMA and an honour to be a newly appointed director.

Andy Dabczynski
Member, NHIMA Board of Directors

Andrew H. Dabczynski, Professor of Music Education at Brigham Young University, is an internationally recognized string music education specialist. He has vast experience as a public school and collegiate string/orchestra instructor, public school administrator, community music education coordinator, and performing violist/violinist.

He received a Bachelor’s degree at the Eastman School of Music, a Master’s degree at the University of Connecticut where he was a member of the graduate string quartet, and a Ph.D. in Music Education at the University of Michigan. Dr. Dabczynski has appeared frequently as guest clinician, consultant, and conductor throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

His research interests include string pedagogy, fiddling and folk music, and lifelong music education. He is co-author of the String Explorer string method series, the Fiddlers Philharmonic series, and numerous arrangements for school orchestra. He is also the founder of New Horizons orchestras in both Rochester, NY, and Provo, Utah.

Dr. Dabczynski, his wife Diane -- a commercial vocalist -- and two musical daughters live in Provo, Utah.

Bob Martin
Member, NHIMA Board of Directors

On Bob’s second birthday, the world witnessed one of the most significant events in all of history, the day of Pearl Harbor. Autumn of 1991 was another very special point in time in which the vision of Roy Ernst was on it’s way to becoming a reality. The New Horizons Concept was created, followed by the process of evolving into one of the greatest things since sliced bread.

Meanwhile, in the fall of 1950, Bob began a career that is still expanding and growing. A family owned cornet, manufactured by the H. N. White Company, was the catalyst that started Bob’s new life in music. He became a performer, then an arranger and a band leader (at the age of fifteen). A colorful collegiate experience was followed by exciting times as an educator, a conductor, a church musician, an instrument repair technician, and finally a New Horizons Band Director. During this time, he also became a husband and a father.

Band camps became an integral part of Bob’s musical life, beginning with a camp created by Stan Kenton in 1960. This two-week event was filled with activities directed by some of the finest professional musicians on the jazz scene.

The New Horizons Camps are a constant stimulus to everyone involved, campers and instructors alike. The mix is a very pleasant combination of musical development and social activities. Inflated egos and stress, usually associated with groups of musicians, is pretty much non-existent. No one cares who plays first. This attitude is unique and it creates an environment that is so pleasant that it defies description.

The New Horizons Concept is alive and well in Roswell, Georgia, as the members possess positive attitudes and have very regular attendance at rehearsals and performances. The concert band membership numbers ninety, which includes: two seventeen-piece jazz bands, a Dixieland band, several smaller groups and a rather busy schedule.

The Roswell Board of Directors has provided great administrative leadership as exemplified by both the very busy day to day activities and the hosting of annual band camps. These camps, of which the first was in 2003, are held at the Unicoi Lodge and State Park in Helen, Georgia. They have had good attendance, overwhelming positive comments from the campers and they do make a difference.

In January, 2008, the Roswell New Horizons Band will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a performance in Savannah, Georgia for the Georgia Music Educators Annual Conference. A very special feature of this performance will feature a world premier by Dr. Roy Ernst as a flute soloist on Bob’s arrangement of the "Brazilian Concerto for Flute." Bob has been with the band for eight of those ten years.

Bob’s music education background includes the University of Mississippi, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the Berklee School of Music at Boston, the Stan Kenton Band Camp, numerous other conferences and workshops while teaching in the public schools of North Carolina and Georgia, and several New Horizons Music Camps.

Cathy Patience
Membership Coordinator, NHIMA Board of Directors

I will be forever grateful to Roy Ernst for making his vision of a band for seniors an international reality. With the encouragement of my brother, Glenn Shull, who is Director of the Northern Colorado NHB, I had my old clarinet overhauled and began playing with the Desert Foothills NHB in January, 1999. After not playing my clarinet for 39 years, I will never forget the feeling I had at my first band rehearsal – I felt like a part of me that had been dead came alive again. For two years while I was a "snowbird," I played in both the Desert Foothills and Northern Colorado Bands. As my playing ability improved and my desire to be further challenged, I also began playing in the Foothills Pops Band, Loveland Concert Band, and occasionally with the Longmont Concert Band.

My work background was "varied," to say the least. I have been a stay-at-home mom, secretary, administrative assistant, manager of a ski lodge, co-owner of an auto parts store, etc., etc., and my favorite and last – a flight attendant/Flight Service Manager for Continental Airlines. I still work very part time at the Denver Convention Center and teach a few sewing classes as well as volunteer at our hospital, and play some golf.

I have three awesome daughters, three wonderful sons-in-law and seven brilliant grandchildren who all live out of state. November 25, 2005, I married the man of my dreams, Skip Patience, who has an equally wonderful family of two daughters, two sons-in-laws, and three grandchildren. A cat named Ralph also came with the package.

Dr. Frank Ray
Member, NHIMA Board of Directors

I am a research scientist, now in retirement from the University of Texas McDonald Observatory. Practicing a specialty in astronomical instrument science and design, I was fortunate to participate in nine large telescope projects during my career, and also lucky to be able earn a living while contributing to the science of astronomy. In addition to 23 years at McDonald Observatory, I was on the faculty of Mercer University from 1971 to 1977, and created the computer science department there.

I was born in 1942 and raised in Amarillo and Austin, Texas. My wife Helen Hyams and I have been married since 1996 and live in the Oak Hill area of Austin. I have one son, Timothy, from a previous marriage, born in 1966. In 1951, I had a chance to play oboe parts on a really sorry German-method tenor recorder, which led, through my school years to clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet (my first encounter with transposing), bassoon, and baritone saxophone. In marching season I played the snare drum, and thought I was a fairly good drummer until at age fifteen I met a bona fide rudimental world champion, Frank Arsenault; so I had to start anew, but it was a good lesson and taught me the value of musical precision and disciplined daily practice.

In 2004, in a chance meeting with a friend of mine from the 1956-59 band of Wm. B. Travis HS in Austin, TX, I was invited to join the Austin New Horizons Band being conducted by Glenn Richter, who is a former Longhorn Band Director and is a professor of conducting at UT Austin. "You used to play bassoon," Carol said, "and we surely could use one in New Horizons." I had heard of Glenn Richter, so this sounded good to me. I was just phasing out of a 5-year stint as Drum Sergeant for the Capitol City Highlanders Pipe Band, and had told them I would continue to teach drummers for their band, but did not wish to perform in public any longer. Fortunately, I had a 1947 Linton bassoon to start with, so after several months of embouchure restoration, I joined the NH Band, and there was pleased to find 5 former students from Travis HS. The 60-odd NHB members are fortunate indeed to have this extended encounter with Glenn Richter; I count him among the handful of truly great teachers I’ve known.

Glenn was delighted to have even a struggling bassoonist, and the challenge of learning new skills to match his music selections has kept me practicing and developing the art of bassoon playing, spawning many searches for resources, advice, materials, technique, etc. Realizing that this effort would probably last the rest of my life, I became a life member of NHIMA to confirm my final musical commitment. Meeting Dr. Ernst and traveling to several band camps served to reinforce this sense of involvement in music, so I suppose I always needed to do it. After heavy music experience in high school, getting educated included earning the B.A. and M.A. in mathematics and a Ph.D. in computer science (1972) from UT Austin. Having no bassoon during my college years, I managed to maintain a substantial interest in the percussive arts, performing with the UT symphony and concert band for 6 years.

These days, I spend a lot of time studying music theory and performance, and have purchased two better bassoons, a 1973 Schreiber Pro and an older Adler with a sweet tone. Besides New Horizons Band and camp activities, I play bassoon in the Austin Civic Wind Ensemble, and have played with several community orchestras from time to time. My primary interest as a bassoonist is in the classical field, but I am interested in all forms of musical and other artistic expression.

Dr. Roy Ernst
Advisor to the NHIMA Board of Directors
Founder of the New Horizons Program

Roy Ernst is a professor emeritus of the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, where he taught for 25 years and chaired the music education department for 12 years. In 1991, Dr. Ernst started the first New Horizons Band at Eastman for the purpose of creating a model program emphasizing entry and re-entry points to music making for senior adults. Later, he became the founding director of the New Horizons Music Project, funded by the National Association of Music Merchants and the National Association of Band Instrument Manufacturers. In that capacity, he used the New Horizons Band as a model to assist in starting more than 100 similar programs in the United States and Canada.

Publications by Ernst include books and articles on conducting, flute performance, and music education. He is the founding director of The Aesthetic Education Institute in Rochester, New York. He conducts frequently at New Horizons Institutes-national and international events for New Horizons band and orchestra members.

Before moving to Eastman in 1975, he taught flute, conducted the wind ensemble, and was a member of the music education faculty at Georgia State University. In 1984, he was a visiting professor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, Australia.

Recognitions and honors to Roy Ernst include the President's Arts Achievement Award from his alma mater, Wayne State University; an Outstanding Educator Award from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; The Richard Snook Award from the Monroe County Music Educators; and recognition as one of the Grand Masters of Music Education by the Music Educators National Conference, the 85,000 member professional association for music educators.

Ernst began his career in Michigan, where he taught instrumental music in elementary and secondary schools. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Wayne State University and a Ph.D. from The University of Michigan. Roy lives in Corning, New York with his wife Pat, who is a food journalist. They travel frequently to visit family and attend New Horizons events.

Shirley Michaels
NHIMA Newsletter Editor

Shirley is a retired English/writing/humanities teacher, currently living in Cheyenne, Wyoming, after spending 30 years in northern Colorado. She and her husband, Jack Tefft, have been buying, remodeling, and reselling homes for the past 15 years, moving every one-two years. Both are hoping to stay in the current house and rest for a bit longer.

Before the Northern Colorado NHB formed, Shirley learned to play piano a little, and hammer and mountain dulcimers, but she didn't enjoy playing alone. Then along came New Horizons...... Talk about a life-changing experience! While currently on a semester-long "leave of absence" from the Northern Colorado group, she is playing in the Laramie County Community College Wind Symphony and the Cheyenne Community Band. But both she and Jack are REALLY missing the camaraderie and support of their New Horizons "family."

Shirley welcomes newsletter items from all of the bands, orchestras, choruses and other New Horizons ensembles. The newsletter is published in April and October, with deadlines for submission of March 1 and September 1. Please send all items to [Shirley Michaels].

John Morgan
NHIMA Webmaster

John is the former Music Director of the Lilac City Symphony Orchestra (LCSO) in Spokane, Washington. LCSO is a charter member of NHIMA. John has a B.S. in Mathematics from Eastern New Mexico University and an M.S. in Computer Science from Colorado State University. He spent almost 10 years in the computer industry after a 23 year career in the Army.

John is a life long musician, having started on trumpet and adding, among other instruments, the baritone, euphonium and trombone. His musical career includes performing in symphony orchestras, concert bands, Dixieland bands, German bands, wind ensembles, brass quintets, big bands and more, often as the featured soloist, and as a member of the world famous United States Army Band in Washington, D.C. for 6 years in the 1970s. In Spokane, John played euphonium in a tuba/euphonium quartet called S.P.A.R.C. (Spokane Piston and Rotary Club) and lead trombone in the Men of Rhythm Big Band.

John has always been a very strong advocate for having participatory music a part of everyone's life. John was the driving force in starting all four New Horizons ensembles in Spokane. Both he and his wife, Linda, were actively involved in the organization and management of the Lilac City Symphony Orchestra; he as the Music Director, she as a budding flute player and both as members of the Board of Directors. John and Linda attended their first New Horizons music camp at Chautauqua, New York in September of 2004, where John conducted the Intermediate Band and Linda played in the Beginning Band. They have been spreading the word about what a great time they had. John and Linda relocated to southern Texas in 2005 and settled in a new home in New Braunfels, Texas, just north of San Antonio.

John now plays euphonium in the Comal Community Band in New Braunfels, Texas. He also plays trombone regularly with the Prime Time Jazz Band in San Antonio, which is made up of professional musicians.

You are invited to send John articles, pictures, stories or any other information about your New Horizons program that you would like to see on the web site. Click on his name above to send him an e-mail.