George takes helm as LWBB conductor

It was only supposed to be a three-year appointment.

It has turned into a three-decade — and counting — thrill of a lifetime.

From early years growing up listening to brass in the background in New York, to conducting in high school and doctorate work in Texas, then ultimately a job at the University of St. Thomas, music has led Matthew George to Minnesota, around the globe and back again.

Now, George will step into the role as the new conductor of the Lake Wobegon Brass Band, which opens its 33rd season with two fall concerts Oct. 5-6 in Anoka and Mahtomedi.

It’s a natural destination for George, with a musical journey shaped from the time he was young.

Growing up in Geneva, New York, a town of around 16,000 in upstate New York, the sound of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in the background at his cousin’s house helped forge his path.

“That was a group back in the ‘60s and ‘70s that caught my ear,” George said. “My cousin and I used to play together all the time at his house, and his father loved that group, so we just listened to it all the time. The brass stuff was amazing, especially trumpets. It kind of drew me to play trumpet in elementary school, so I grew up playing that.”

Not long after, he wasn’t just playing music. He was helping lead it.

“In high school, I caught the conducting bug,” George said. “My conductor at the time let me conduct the band for a concert, which was super exciting. I had the typical great high school experiences with honor bands, orchestras and those things.”

George went on to Ithaca College, a strong musical school an hour away, where he double majored in music education and trumpet performance.

After graduating, George moved to Texas for further schooling, earning a Master’s degree at Southern Methodist University, then his doctorate in conducting at the University of North Texas.

George played trumpet professionally in Texas, while also teaching.

In 1991, George was pursuing different job openings, but couldn’t find the right fit.

Then, a position opened up at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, one that was supposed to be a three-year appointment.

Once here, he never wanted to leave.

“I had interviewed and gotten offered some positions at other schools, but St. Thomas appealed to me, being in the Twin Cities appealed to me,” George said. “It was honestly just a three-year appointment, so I thought I would do it for three years and then move on, but 34 years later here I am. It’s not out of complacency. It’s just a great place to be with a lot of different opportunities. It’s been good, and I’ve not looked back.”

One of the added benefits of George’s job at St. Thomas has been the ability to travel the world concurrently. His musical roots have deepened in Minnesota, and been shaped and strengthened by his experiences across the globe.

“I’ve been blessed,” George said. “When I started this career, I never thought it would take me to places around the world. My travels all really started in Mexico City. I was appointed as kind of the founder of their symphonic band (Banda Sinfonica at the Escuela Nacional de Musica). The thing that impressed me most, you can go to these places and visit and kind of get a feel for what’s going on there with the culture, but unless you’re really working in it, you don’t really feel it. So going from place to place is this cultural immersion, because you’re working with that place, and you learn so much about customs, how people treat each other, what kind of food is important to them, food culture. The one thing I’ve learned is humility. Coming from the U.S., we have certain ideas about what is and what isn’t, what should be, what shouldn’t be — that’s absolutely shattered when you go to these places. These societies feel very much as important as any other place in the world. Everywhere I go, generally speaking, people are really nice and really good people.”

Beyond time spent in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, George has served as a conductor and clinician/lecturer in Cuba, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, across continental Europe, Ireland and the UK, India, Australia, Japan, Singapore, China, Thailand and Morocco. Included in that have been roles as the artistic director of music festivals at Sydney Opera House, the Oriental Arts Center in Shanghai and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, among others.

“What I’ve taken away from all of my visits is really that respect for other cultures and my deep and sincere appreciation for being able to go to these places and be able to tie in and work within the culture,” George said. “That gives me a deep understanding and respect for how people operate and think and their philosophy. I just feel like it makes me a better person as a human being, but also as a musician because there’s so much I learn musically speaking from, OK, this is how this culture approaches making music, this is the thought process behind why they sound the way they do. It’s really enriching for me, and I just feed off of this, and it informs what I do at home.”

In addition to traveling around the world, George has long been familiar with the Lake Wobegon Brass Band as well. George became great friends with group founder Charles Olson when Olson was teaching at Bethel College, and later was a guest conductor during a live national radio broadcast the group performed at the Lake Harriet Bandshell.

“That was a lot of years ago, but I still have great memories from that experience,” George said. “What I was impressed most by was the members being so engaged with what they were doing and committed to excellence. That stayed with me.”

Upon the retirement of longtime director Mike Halstenson this spring, who spent 25 years in the role, George was encouraged to pursue the spot, and was ultimately offered the position.

“When this position opened up, I was contacted by a few people affiliated with the group to consider throwing my hat in the ring,” George said. “I’ve had a couple rehearsals and my memories were confirmed. It’s still the same thing I thought years ago — they’re really committed and want to do well.”

Excitement abounds stepping into a leading capacity with an organization steeped in talent and tradition, as well as the challenge of taking what the group does well and building upon it.

“I’m stretching them in maybe some directions they haven’t been stretched before,” George said. “That’s not anything to say that was done before wasn’t great, it’s just a different person with some different concepts about where things might go musically. They’re catching on to these concepts really quickly, and I’ve learned a lot about what they’re capable of in these few rehearsals.”

Looking ahead to the first concert as the group’s new director, George’s focus has been to be as prepared as possible to fend off any new-role nervousness.

“Not so much nerves as much as, OK, do your thing and do it as well as you possibly can because everyone deserves it,” George said. “They brought you in to do something, now you’ve got to live up to it. I’m not sure it’s so much nerves as it is conscientiousness. I want to do right by them. I’ve been working hard to make sure I’m prepared. If you’re prepared, yeah, you might have a few butterflies like anything with a new experience, but not really nerves. It’s been quite good. I’ve put them to task right away and they’ve responded well. The repertoire we’re doing is not easy, but they’re handling it quite well so far.”

This year’s fall concerts will be held at Anoka’s Zion Lutheran Church on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m.; with the free concert at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. Advance tickets for the Saturday performance are available by calling Zion Lutheran Church at 763-421-4656, or by emailing ltowner@lwbb.org. Saturday’s concert admission is $10 at the door for adults; students are admitted free with a current ID.

After that, George is excited about the future of Lake Wobegon.

“I want to honor the tradition of the past with an eye toward the future,” George said. “While Lake Wobegon Brass Brand will always be that entity, I think the future is bright for us and I think you’re going to see the group expand in a lot of different ways with exciting new ventures. I think there’s going to be a lot of good things to come.”