Music 100: The first Century of Music at Bowling Green University

that he likes to remember most is when he graduated from Bowling Green he took his master’s degree at North Texas. He went down and auditioned and replaced the bass trombonist in the first band. So he really could play his horn.

Marta Hofacre, who came in here from a little town called Dalton, Ohio, which is in the Holmes County area [Actually Wayne County]. She is now a doctor in music and has been for twenty years or more the trombone teacher at University of Southern Mississippi.

Jeff Shellhammer, a very fine conductor and a terrific man in Gahanna, Ohio.

David Guion, who was a very good trombone player but who was interested primarily in musicology. He spent some time at Iowa with Rita Benson. He did some work with Rita Benson and recently got a job somewhere in North Carolina, I think in Greensboro but I’m not sure, as a musicologist.

RT: Is his father the psychologist at the University?

DG: Yeah. David—not that I want to take much credit, or any credit for that matter—David was a good trombone player but he wanted to go into the profession as playing trombone. And I said “David, I don’t think . . .”—It’s hard for a student to hear this, or a professor to say it—but I said: “David, your strength is in musicology.

You can still play the trombone if you want to but you should really look in the future as a musicologist.” And he has written one of the finest books ever written. John Hill, in the preface of his book says: “I have never seen a more complete study of the trombone from a particular time frame.” And he says: “Absolutely perfect.” And you know when John Hill says that, it’s got to be good. So he’s had this published, and in fact I have a copy of it.

Jeff Macomber who is a Westlake graduate, high school, came here, and when he left here he went out and got a degree at the University of Iowa, went to Bemidji University, Minnesota and now is somewhere in Missouri, and I’m not sure exactly where.

But the fellow that took his place was Joel Pugh. He [Pugh] went to Bemidji as band director.

RT: Is Joel there now? DG: Yes. RT: Oh, I didn’t know that. I didn’t know he had left Ohio.

DG: I noticed that note but knew that, because it was in the Trombone Journal that I get, the International Trombone Journal. So he’s there. Oh my, let’s see.

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