This is an unusual 1969 photo that shows of two people who are something of Maryville High School music legends — singer Mike Mike (Class of 1965) and Dennis Dau (Spoofhound band director 1979-1999).
Caption: Northwest State College students chosen as members of the Missouri All-College Band and Chorus gathered for a picture before leaving for St. Louis. Seated left to right in the first row are the Misses Linda Strain, Peggy Clausen, Connie Clara, and Diane Bergren. Second row, left to right, are the Misses Vickie Gillispie, Melody Price, Sherry Cook, Paula Florea, and Dianne Mannasmith; third row, left to right, Rick Ashby, Hugh Campbell, Dennis Dau, Jack Briggs; and fourth row, left to right, Ralph Taylor, Roscoe Porch, Mike Miller, and Gail Christiansen.
MSC Students to Participate In All-College Chorus, Band Concert at Educators’ Meeting
The Maryville Daily Forum, March 5, 1969, Page 1. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-maryville-daily-forum-msc-all-colleg/197099006/
Seventeen Northwest State College students, members of the college band and the Tower Choir, will go to St. Louis Friday to participate in the Missouri All – College Band and All – College Chorus which will present a concert Sunday at the Music Educators Naional Conference.
The MSC students were chosen following auditions in Columbia in January, which were open to all college students in Missouri. Only outstanding instrumentalists and vocalists were chosen for the All-College groups. Selected for the band were Miss Linda Strain, flute; Miss Melody Price and Dennis Dau, clarinet; Miss Vicki Gillispie, alto saxophone; Miss Sherry Cook, bassoon; Gail Christiansen, trumpet, and Roscoe Porch, Miss Paula Florea and Ralph Taylor, baritone.
James Mathews of the University of Houston will serve as director. Miss Gillispie, Savannah, will be section leader of the saxophones, and Miss Cook, Maryville, and Porch, Anita, Ia., have e been appointed assistant section leaders. Chosen for the 80-member All – College chorus were Miss Clark and Miss Peggy Clausen, sopranos; Miss Diarne Mannasmith and Miss Diane Bergren, altos; Hugh Campbell and Rickv Ashby. tenors, and Mike Miller and Jack Briggs, basses. Harold Decker of the University of Illinois will direct the chorus.
Ward Rounds and Byron Mitchell of the MSC music department will accompany the group. Participating in a piano master class on the art of accompanying at the St. Louis conference will be Richard Walton and Larry Mannasmith, sophomore and junior music students, respectively, at the college. Walton will be the accompanist as Mannasmith sings two compositions, and then the clinician will offer suggestions to improve accompanying technique. Mrs. Donald Sandford, a member of the planning committee for the Missouri Music Teachers Association, will attend this session on Saturday.
- Seventeen students went to St. Louis for the All-College Band and Chorus. That’s either perfect harmony — or 17 different people arguing over who gets the aisle seat on the bus.
- They went to St. Louis to make music together. The real test: could the band and choir agree on snack time?
- Northwest Missouri sent 17 musicians and singers. The band had the brass — the Tower Choir had the altos — and the bus driver had the patience.
- Seventeen students: the band to trumpet, the choir to harmonize, and the uniforms to silently judge everyone.
- “All-College” chorus in St. Louis — because nothing brings students together like matching robes and a shared fear of high notes.
- The college sent both band and choir. It was a historic moment: the percussion section finally apologized to the sopranos.
- They traveled for the All-College concert. After one rehearsal, the band and choir formed a union — for better tuning and shorter crescendos.
- Seventeen students went to St. Louis. When asked their goals, the band said “forte,” the choir said “pianissimo,” and the bus driver said “arrival by midnight.”
- The Tower Choir and the band went to compete — the choir wanted perfect vowels, the band wanted perfect rests, and the audience wanted perfect coffee.
- Reporters called it “All-College,” which meant everyone had to pretend they’d been practicing for months instead of last-night cram sessions.
- Seventeen students went to St. Louis — enough voices to create harmony, enough instrument cases to block the hotel elevator.
- The All-College Band and Chorus: where conductors practice waving and students practice pretending they know what tempo means.
- They called it “All-College.” Translation: everyone agreed to wear black and hope no one solos for too long.
- Seventeen musicians — the perfect number to form a committee about whose turn it is to carry the sheet music.
- The choir sang highs, the band played lows, and the uniforms collectively hit a wardrobe malfunction.
- St. Louis got music; the motel got 17 toothbrushes left in the sink.
- The band tuned, the choir warmed up, and the director warmed up even more — with motivational speeches.
- “All-College” meant they combined talents — and combined arguments about rehearsal scheduling.
- Seventeen students: small enough to stay organized, large enough to lose only three people at a time.
- They traveled for culture, camaraderie, and the chance to say “we performed in St. Louis” at reunions.
- The Tower Choir arrived ready to harmonize; the band arrived ready to drown them out with style.
- Tour rule #1: Never trust a percussionist with the hotel wake-up calls.
- It wasn’t a competition — it was a polite argument about who got the applause.
- The band wanted crescendos, the choir wanted legato, and the bus driver wanted fewer encore requests.
- After the concert, everyone claimed they’d nailed their part — history will decide which parts they actually nailed.