OMEA 2022 Distinguished Service Award

Presented To Mark A. Hensler

2023 OMEA Professional Development Conference

Friday, February 3, 2023 - 7:30 pm

Hyatt Regency Ballroom - Columbus, Ohio Acceptance

Speech by Mark Hensler

Distinguished members of DaCapo, OMEA staff, friends, and guests. My sincere thanks to my nominator and dear friend, Gayley Hautzenroeder, Chair Kathy McGrady, OMEA colleagues, former students, Ohio Military Band members, and friends for all your kind words. I am deeply humbled to receive this honor and join the ranks of past DSA recipients.

Jack Wainwright, Harry Clarke, J. Merton Holcombe, and Vivian Pearson may not be names you recognize but they set in motion what we are doing this evening. They were the first board of trustees for the Ohio School Band and Orchestra Association in 1924 – almost 100 years ago. Harry Clarke was the first DSA recipient in 1954.

I have had the privilege of attending these presentations for nearly forty years. I have also had the honor of tallying votes, notifying recipients, and even presenting the award. All I can say is, “has there been some kind of mistake?” I feel as if I should be preparing the reception or cordoning off seats or making copies for someone’s presentation tomorrow. Then I came to realize – that is the essence of OMEA. Leaders and volunteers in OMEA are always seeking to “do the work”.

My grandfather, whom I never knew, was a country fiddler, and music always had a large presence in our home. My parents loved music and always had the record player or radio playing. My mom knew and sang many folk songs around the house. When I started in elementary general music class, I always knew more verses to the songs than were printed in the textbook. I could also sing lengthy renditions of “Homer and Jethro” songs in first grade, much to the dismay of my classroom teacher.

Growing up in Mt. Healthy, I was fortunate to have many role models for excellence in teaching and service. I would like to thank Russell Hinkle for starting me on the cornet, (after a successful flutophone audition), Paula Stewart Aronoff for switching me to baritone, and my other Mt. Healthy music teachers, Allen Young, Roger Reece, Tilly Cowherd, Tom Gillfillen, and Cynthia Gray, and my private teacher Steve Hoock, for providing a truly unparalleled music education experience. I also must credit my late brother, Ken, who grabbed the cornet when I brought it home for the first time and played, “When the Saints Go Marching In”, just to show me up. This was a great motivation. My math teacher, Elizabeth Coates, also gets an honorable mention for introducing me to the comedy of Tom Lehrer and Spike Jones. I found out later that she was a fine pianist and performed as a youth with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In junior high, I began singing in church and was recruited to sing in the HS musical because I had a deeper voice than the other boy singers. This was the beginning of my love of musical theatre. Cynthia Gray came to Mt. Healthy when I was a junior, building up the choral program and adding music history and theory to the curriculum. This was an enormous benefit when I began studying music education. I also must thank my high school creative writing teacher whose name escapes me. If she had done a better job, I might have ended up as a writer.

The first time I remember hearing a band concert was probably 2nd or 3rd grade when Mr. Hinkle brought the HS band to my elementary school. In my fifth-grade biography, (out of print), I wrote that I was going to be a band director. When our class took a field trip to the Wright-Pat Airforce Museum, the only thing I was interested in seeing was Glenn Miller’s trombone and glasses. In high school, I worked at our town’s public library. One day, I saw a two-record set of the US Marine Band come across the desk. This prompted a discussion with librarian Mildred Marshall, about music and I found out that her late husband had been a band director. When she discovered my interest in music, she invited me to attend a Cincinnati Symphony concert with her. This was the beginning of many trips to music hall with Mrs. Marshall and it opened a new world of music for me.

I have fond memories of my OMEA experiences as a student. I routinely performed in six or more S&E events each year along with large group band and choir. I was exposed to wonderful literature, played solos on almost every concert, became a student conductor, and learned an enormous number of marches. My senior year, I was soloist with the band when they traveled to Switzerland, France, and Spain.

When the time came for graduation, I asked Mr. Hinkle what college he recommended. He said without hesitation, Morehead State University. This decision would have lasting effect on the trajectory of my life. Roger Reece, also a Morehead grad, traveled with me in my 1964 Oldsmobile to accompany my vocal and euphonium auditions. This is when I first met Earle Louder and discovered Morehead’s rich band heritage. At MSU, I learned valuable lessons from many outstanding, caring, educators. Somehow, I managed to end up in the honors program where I met my wife, Jenni – a music department “outsider”. Mr. Reece often spoke of his neighbor, George, who collected records. I discovered that this was George Stein who did a great deal of research and legwork for Paul Bierley’s biography of Sousa and Fillmore. It was through George and Earle that I came to know Paul and many other luminaries in the band world. During this time, Mr. Hinkle invited me back as chaperone and soloist with the Mt. Healthy band as they traveled to England, Scotland, and Wales and again for the band’s historic visit to Romania and China.

I was hired by Michael Hanning and began teaching in the Northwest Local Schools in 1984. I joined the faculty the year after OMEA President Lee Suman retired from Colerain High School. Both Mike and Lee had a tremendous influence on my teaching career. I remained at Northwest for 36 years, finding my niche as a middle-school band director for the last 26 or so. Cincinnati had an active OMEA community, and I was surrounded by mentors including Rosemary Koepfle, Sam Reynolds, Pete Metzger, Jack Wimmer, Bill Wilkie, Fred Marzan, Bob Gray, Dan Meeks, and many, many, others. I tried to set an example by practicing my euphonium at 6:30 AM every day before school. I set high expectations for my own performance and that of my students. I tried to push my students to achieve while maintaining a caring, supportive, humorous, environment. One of my students once gave me the highest compliment when she said, “You know Mr. Hensler, your class is the only place where I can really be myself”. I had a supportive administration who essentially had the motto, “Just make us look good and we will leave you alone.” The staff at Pleasant Run MS was also supportive and jumped on board when I introduced them to MENC’s National Anthem Project. It became an annual tradition and a fun way to start each school year. The project culminated with a 10-year celebration that included the entire student body, dressed in red, white, and blue, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s helicopter, the ROTC color guard, the city of Cincinnati Police bagpiper, firetrucks, police vehicles, dignitaries, and veterans from throughout our community. Patrick Gilmore would have been proud. I am also proud to have given students their first taste of musical theatre, opera, and professional concert band performances. I have fond memories of my time at PRMS and NWHS working with David Zerull, Steve Joos, Doug Gaines, Gayley Hautzenroeder, Henry Huber, Sara Boys, Michael Spresser, and so many more.

My move to fulltime MS band opened the door for even greater involvement in OMEA. I served as chair of many events, committees, conferences, District President, and eventually became State Secretary. That first group of trustees included Marcus Neiman, Nancy Ditmer, Sharon Nelson, Linda Hartley, and Karen Hann. I returned to the trustees just as Roger Hall became executive director. He has since become a great friend and mentor, along with Bill Anderson, Jim Dowdy, and too many others to name. When the Director of PD position was created in 2014, I decided to build on the skills I learned as a volunteer join the OMEA staff which included Amy Annico, Greg Taylor, Bill Guegold, Dane Newlove, and David Adamson.

I have directed several community groups, including the Ohio Military Band. I tried to instill in my students the idea that music is a life-skill and lifelong activity through joint concerts between the OMB and the PRMS 8th grade band. It was quite rewarding to see 12- and 13-year-old students playing alongside musicians in their 80s and 90s. I would like to acknowledge the OMB band members in the audience this evening including our senior member, (not a former student), 97-year-old trumpet player Dr. Charles Fixler. It has been a joy to welcome former students including Avi and Fletcher Kaufman into the band and to see the accomplishments of former student musicians including Angela Ammerman, who is a clinician here this week. We rehearse on Thursday night and are always looking for new members. Be sure to “like” us on FB and visit our website. Our manager Dennis is here tonight too if you are interested in booking the band. I still play the occasional solo and participate in the annual concert by the Mt. Healthy HS Alumni Band. This summer will mark the 43rd year for the alumni band started by Russell Hinkle in 1980.

I am fortunate to have a loving and supportive wife who puts up with my obsessions which include collecting records, sheet music, piano rolls, radios, books, and an assortment of other items. I am also very proud of my children and their musical accomplishments including many fine ensembles in the Fairfield City Schools, musical theatre, and starting careers of their own in their chosen fields. OMEA has been a big part of their lives beginning with “trick or treating” in the exhibit hall on the last day of conference through adjudicated events and All-State ensembles.

As music education evolves, I worry about the future of large ensembles such as the one you are going to hear in a moment. I encourage you to advocate for these groups in your community. I believe in the pursuit of musical excellence but also in a place where students can be themselves, discover their strengths, and celebrate their accomplishments. I believe music education is uniquely qualified to meet these goals, assisted by OMEA, its current and future leaders, and by parents and students who share these goals. I encourage my colleagues just starting out to be patient. Don’t be discouraged when your first assignment is not your dream job. Sometimes you just need to focus on the long haul and build your own “dream job”. Let’s keep “doing the work” and make tonight the beginning of the next 100 years of excellence and opportunity for all of Ohio’s music students.