March 3, 2011 - 5:06pm
Massachusetts band director dies en route to Ann Arbor
BY A. BRAD SCHWARTZ
George N. Parks, University of Massachusetts marching band director, died last night while with the UMass band in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, on the way to Ann Arbor for tomorrow's football game against the Wolverines, MassLive.com reported.
Parks, the director of the school's Minuteman Marching Band for 33 years, went into cardiac arrest at about 10:30 p.m. last night — a few hours after leading a band performance at Cuyahoga Heights High School. He was 57 years old.
According to a statement released this morning by UMass, members of the marching band — known as “The Power and Class of New England” — intend to play at tomorrow’s game in the Big House as planned.
Athletic Department spokesman Bruce Madej said Michigan Stadium will observe a moment of silence in Parks’s honor before the Minuteman Marching Band pregame show.
“We were shocked and saddened by the news, and our prayers and sympathies go out to the entire University of Massachusetts community and especially the marching band,” Madej said.
John Pasquale, assistant director of bands at the University, also expressed sympathy for UMass students and faculty.
“They have lost an invaluable person both to the field of marching and pageantry arts, in addition to just a great person,” he said. “(Parks) was always so full of life and such an inspiring teacher and the entire marching band community is saddened by his passing.”
Massachusetts Chancellor Robert C. Holub sent a mass e-mail to his university community this morning expressing his grief, saying that Parks "represented the best of UMass."
“George’s devotion to excellence, his creativity and his passion for teaching inspired us all and shaped the lives of thousands of students during the three decades that he directed The Power and Class of New England,” he wrote in the statement.
Parks led the band during performances at three presidential inaugurations, in 1981, 1985 and 2001. In 1998, the band won the Louis C. Sudler Trophy, which the UMass statement describes as “the nation’s top marching band honor.”
Parks was inducted into the Bands of America Hall of Fame in 2006.
He also worked as a professor of music at UMass, teaching music conducting and tuba. He was awarded numerous teaching honors, including a Distinguished Teaching Award in 1989 and an honorary degree from the UMass Alumni Association, according to the statement.
Parks was a driving force behind the construction of a new $5.7 million facility for the Minuteman Marching band, which is scheduled to open next spring and will be named in honor of him, according to MassLive.com.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., Parks earned his bachelor’s degree at West Chester University in Pennsylvania and completed a master of music degree at Northwestern University.
He is survived by his wife Jeanne and two children.
The MassLive.com article can be found here: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/george_n_parks_umass_band...
The Daily Collegian article can be found here: http://dailycollegian.com/2010/09/17/band-director-george-n-parks-dies-a...
This is a breaking story. Check back throughout the day for more updates.
