01.11.2012
As the director of bands at NC State from 1982 to 1994, Frank Hammond pushed his students to play their instruments better than they thought possible and to perform shows that, at times, seemed ridiculously ambitious. He helped them develop a lifelong love of music that would stay with them as they moved on to careers as engineers or chemists or chefs. And he taught them lessons that had little to do with music.
“I probably learned more from him than any other professor,” says Rob Faggart, a 1993 graduate from China Grove, N.C. “But it was not about music. It was about life, about responsibility, about doing what you loved and doing everything to the best of your ability.”
Hammond died Jan. 7 at his home in Washington, N.C. He was 78.
Many of Hammond’s former students spent time with Hammond at a surprise reunion in November at the Washington Yacht and Country Club. About 50 students, some of them from as far away at Washington state and Florida, came to honor a man that they considered a mentor and a friend. They each brought their instrument and performed the NC State fight song from memory.
“There are some people that pour into your life and expect nothing in return other than for you to be a better person. That really personifies who he was to me,” says Glenn Massengill of Clayton, N.C., who has three degrees from NC State. “He really gave selflessly of himself and he was so humble. It was always about what you were doing, how much better you could be.”
Massengill, who sells plastic additives and colorants as an account executive for Ampacet Corp., couldn’t read music when he came to NC State in 1987 and, as a result, did not make the cut when he first tried out for the marching band. But he said Hammond put him in a rehearsal band, where he learned to play music. Massengill went on to become the field conductor for the marching band, and he continues to play the trumpet and other brass instruments today.
“I wasn’t the most talented person, but what he did was really push me beyond what I thought my potential was,” he says. “I still play today, and it’s been 25 years. He said that music could be part of your life and not consume your life.”
Jennifer Fuller, a 1991 graduate, recalls Hammond pushing her to play a flute solo with the university’s symphonic band. Fuller, who is now an engineer with the N.C. Department of Transportation, said she suffered from such terrible stage fright that she could not imaging performing a solo.
“He pushed me to do things that I really wasn’t comfortable doing musically,” she says. “He pushed me, and I’m glad he did. He helped me realize some potential and build some self confidence. He believed in all of his students. It didn’t occur to him that you couldn’t do it.”
Fuller says Hammond set high standards for the band and helped each member play better. But she said his lessons often had nothing to do with music. “If you were having trouble with something musically, he was there for you,” she says. “But he was there to bounce off any old problem, what to do with the rest of your life. He was always glad to see you.”
Faggart says he continues to benefit from Hammond’s lessons, noting that he recently decided to follow his passion by enrolling in culinary school. “He just had a real passion for life that came through in everything he did,” he says. “He got extremely excited about everything we did.”
Visitation will be held at Hammond’s home at 129 Fairway Drive, Washington, N.C., from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 13, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Washington.
06.29.2011
When other NC State students were preparing for their first job interviews after graduation in December 2003, Sherard Griffin ‘03 didn’t have to look far. He planned to be his own boss.
After majoring in computer science and minoring in music, he was busy starting his first business. AvanGuard Solutions, a company of four, focused on mobile technology and consulting.
But Griffin had no one to guide him. And that lack of a mentor and AvanGuard’s failure have pushed the entrepreneur to start a new business. NoodleShare fully launched on the Internet last week.
“This came out of a struggle I had,” Griffin says. At AvanGuard he made rookie business mistakes like assembling a team of partners who only had technical know-how, but no marketing experience. “With this one, I just want to make sure people have a place to go.”
NoodleShare will house an online community in which people can present innovative ideas for businesses or products. “We want to start with the inception of the idea and let the community give you feedback on the idea and incubate it,” he says. Then, Griffin and his team will link those people with business partners who can turn the idea into a commodity. “It can be a grandmother who has thought of a new utensil. She can post her idea and look for someone to fund and develop it.”
Griffin and his partners will also hold meetings with local businesses to imbue a sense of entrepreneurship in the Triangle and to teach others from the mistakes that have taught him to revise his approach.
“Four technical people are not good at selling products,” Griffin says. “This time we did the opposite. We have one technical person, and everyone else is in marketing strategy.”
05.24.2011
Donald B. Adcock, a former NC State band director who died this month, was remembered in The News & Observer Monday for his life in music.
Adcock served as NC State’s band director for 22 years after coming to the job in 1960.
Sam Stephenson, a local writer who consulted with Adcock for a book about the preservation of jazz’s legacy, told The N & O that Adcock knew music so well that identification became second nature.
“Don knew every musician and every tune. He knew them by ear, and we needed that because the Jazz Loft Project was a detective story at core,” Stephenson said.
05.13.2011
Donald B. Adcock, the longtime director of the marching band and other bands and musical groups at NC State, died this week. He was 85.
Adcock worked at NC State for 22 years, retiring in 1982 after helping hundreds of students become better musicians and entertaining thousands at football games, basketball games and other events.
Adcock was remembered by some of his former students this week as a demanding leader who expected the best from his musicians. They said he also took a personal interest in each of the students who played for him.
“Don was the kind of guy that you would walk through fire for,” said Charles Johnson ‘76 of Cary, who played the trumpet in the marching band, orchestra, symphonic band and stage band. “He made the band and the musical program at State a real pleasure. People took pride in doing their very best for him.”
Johnson said Adcock was not hesitant to do things his way, noting that the group that played at NC State basketball games in those days was not a pep band that played the same fight songs over and over. Instead, they were a stage band that played a lot of big band music to entertain the Reynolds Coliseum crowd before games and at halftime. Johnson said UNC basketball coach Dean Smith once told Adcock how much he enjoyed the group’s big band sound.
“He made us better than we could ever have been without his strong leadership,” Johnson said of Adcock. “He was a guy you could laugh with and tell jokes with. But when it came time to put on a performance, he wanted the very best. He instilled that sense of pride in us.”
Pam Wilson ‘77 of Raleigh started private lessons with Adcock when she was in the fifth grade. She came to NC State, in part, because she wanted to continue to perform with Adcock.
Women had just been allowed in the marching band when Wilson was a student at NC State, and the students received no course credit for their time with the band. But Adcock required band members to meet every day at noon for an hour of practice. Each week, he would have a new show for them to perform at that weekend’s football game.
“He loved the band members, cared about them personally,” Wilson said. “But he held you to a high standard. If you made a mistake, you went back and you fixed it and then you never made it again. Because of that, I became a much, much better player. He demanded excellence and he got it.”
Adcock’s daughter, Sylvia Adcock ‘81, is the managing editor of NC State magazine. She said that after retiring from NC State, her father never stopped cheering for the Wolfpack and made sure he never missed a game.
Photo courtesy of Historical State collection, NC State Libraries.
04.11.2011
Scholars and musicians will join forces at NC State on Tuesday night to discuss the roles that music can play in rebuilding Haiti in the the wake of the earthquake in 2010.
The event, part of the Price Music Center Lecture Series, is open to the public. Tickets are $10 for members of the public and $8 for senior citizens and NC State faculty and staff. The event is from 7-9 p.m. in the Talley Ballroom.
Scheduled speakers include Michael Largey, a professor of ethnomusicology at Michigan State University and a leading scholar on Haitian music; Janet Anthony, a cellist and music professor at Lawrence University who has spent more than 20 years teaching music in Haiti; and Johnathan Kramer, an NC State professor and ethnomusicologist.
12.10.2010
The Music Department during a holiday concert in 1974. (Photograph courtesy of Special Collections, NCSU Libraries)
NCSU Libraries’ Historical State site has thousands of images in its online database that you can view.
Do you have an NC State photo you think might make a good photo of the day? Send it to us at alumniblog@gw.ncsu.edu!
07.26.2010
J. Perry Watson conducts during the 1970s. Watson, who was NC State's director of music from 1960 to 1991, wrote "The Red & White Song." (Photograph courtesy of Special Collections, NCSU Libraries)
NCSU Libraries’ Historical State site has thousands of images in its online database that you can view.
Do you have an NC State photo you think might make a good photo of the day? Send it to us at alumniblog@gw.ncsu.edu!
09.02.2009
The NC State Marching Band is tuned up for the 2009 football season, and band director Paul Garcia says the band is ready to entertain NC State fans. But the opposing team? That’s a different story, he says:
In football, we’re working to be the 12th man. We want to bear down on our opponents and create communication problems in the huddle. We’re there pulling for the Pack until the very end, and I don’t think fans could imagine things being any different. The pep band plays the same role. We want to keep our fans up and cheering, and keep the opposing team frustrated. In timeouts, we turn our instruments toward the opposing team’s huddle. I want them to have to yell to hear each other.
Look for a Q&A with Garcia in the Autumn issue of NC State magazine. The band has 20 songs you can listen to on its Web site to get ready for game day.
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