historian & retired members Happy Birthday to Us,
Happy Birthday WMEA Kristine McLain, WMEA State Chair, Historian & Retired Members
Let’s celebrate! Our state music orga- nization dedicated to you, the people, the music educators of Wisconsin, is 50 years old this year! It’s 50 golden years of helping educators hone their teaching
skills, create networks for sharing, hear nationally renowned music educators, at- tend concerts of the state’s best musicians, attend conferences and workshops to learn about the newest and most innovative re- sources and teaching strategies, promote music and recognize excellence in music education. What a fine history of music education Wisconsin has created!
Along with this issue’s theme of “Cel- ebrating Our Past, Imagining Our Future” and the 50th
anniversary of our state’s
music education organization, it seems only natural for the articles of the histo- rian to center upon the lives and times surrounding the beginnings of Wisconsin Music Educators Conference (WMEC) (Thirty five years later the name of the organization was changed to Wisconsin Music Educators Association – WMEA). Recently, I had the privilege of having a delightful lunch with Fred Leist, the first president of WMEC and one of his former students, Pam Lane. A dignified, humble gentleman, who walks tall, speaks clearly and appears to be much younger than the chronological years tell, enjoyed talking about his career, his wife and family and the beginnings of WMEC.
Fred’s teaching career began in Algoma in 1938. He taught music K-12, high school band and choral and elementary gen- eral music. His basic goal for elementary music was to recruit for the performing groups.
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In 1942, Fred moved to Oshkosh to become the high school band director. Soon after his arrival in Oshkosh, he left to serve in the military. His wife Dorothy filled in for him while he was gone. Upon his return at the end of WWII, Fred noted on a humorous and loving note, that the students did not want him back. They preferred his wife as a director. Fred then added that all was soon well. Those students graduated. After a short time, he accepted the position of high school choral director, which he held until his retirement in 1974. He and his choirs were nationally recognized for their excellence. He was known as a “benevolent dictator,” a kind, respected, sometimes funny, authority figure who modeled what he expected of his students.
Throughout his career, Fred served WSMA in many capacities, one as chair of the music selection committee for solo & ensemble/festival music. Often, the music did not fit the needs of the teachers and their communities. Many music teachers served in multiple positions and did not feel capable in all areas. WSMA met the needs of the schools. It did not focus on the needs of the individual teacher. Fred and his contemporaries enjoyed every op- portunity to visit with each other, sharing music and ideas for programming, but more and more, they noted the increasing need for an organization to help teachers develop their skills.
In 1958, shortly before the formation of WMEC, Dorothy and Fred spent a glori- ous three weeks at the Orff Institute in Austria with music educators from around the world. This experience demonstrated the possibilities for general music educa- tion in Wisconsin.
In April of 1960, WSMA formed a com- mittee to address the steps necessary to establish a music educator’s organization.
A referendum, submitted to member schools and individual active members, almost unanimously passed, allowing WSMA to proceed with plans to form WMEC, an organization dedicated to the people, the music educators.1
In October of 1960, Fred Leist was elected to be the first president of WMEC. In November of 1960, WMEC held its first “get together” in Milwaukee. Attendance was good with over half of the member- ship in attendance. It was reported to be a “pleasurable, worthwhile meeting.”2
In his president’s message, Fred pressed the importance to justify the continued offering of music in the expanding aca- demic secondary program. He added, “... the time has come to re-evaluate our in- dividual programs. Is everything we are doing “education?” Can we justify the time students spend with us in our bands, orchestras and choruses? Are they taking something with them that will enrich the rest of their lives, or are we merely filling their time with activity?”
He suggested that educators find out what others are doing; read professional periodicals, make visits to other schools, attend conferences, volunteer for com- mittee work, stay abreast of the times and what is new in music education. He also stated that many of us know the value of music in our lives and in the lives of others, but have trouble expressing these values in terms that administrators and academic teachers (who have often had bad experiences in their musical lives) can understand. Fred continued, noting MENC as working to provide a national pool of knowledge, leadership and expression of thought channeled to the members through their periodicals and services. He asked the members to become authorities on the importance and value of music and spread the word. He ended with the plea for all
September 2010
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