With four pieces of music, a few instruments and an abundant amount of talent, Mississippi State University professor Richard Human Jr., along with Michael Brown and Stephanie Furry, will perform a trombone recital in Giles Bettersworth Auditorium Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. For 21 years, Human has played the trombone. His passion for the trombone began in the fifth-grade, when the principal came over the intercom with an announcement about beginner band during Human’s math class. That was all it took to convince Human to sign up for band.
While at band practice, the director asked what instrument each child would like to play. Human was busy doing some last-minute math problems when the question was posed to him.
“My friend next to me told me to pick the trombone because that is what he chose, so I did,” Human said.
However, now, Human firmly stands on the belief that the trombone is the best instrument in existence.
Human said he enjoys the trombone because “it is a serious instrument with lighthearted uses.” The trombone is unique because it has not changed since its invention.
“It was made perfect and still is,” Human said.
Human has studied the trombone with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Ft. Wayne Philharmonic, Augusta Symphony, and currently with the Starkville Symphony. He even spent a week of September in Italy studying with the Chicago symphony.
The concert Jan. 24 will also include pianist James Lesniak, who, as Human said, “has more notes in this recital than me, and is a lot more than just an accompanist.” Brown will play the trumpet, with Furry playing the French horn. Fifth-grader Dorothy Damm will narrate.
The concert has no official theme, but Human unofficially calls it “Life Cycles.”
The pieces selected for the concert cover a wide range, from a piece for beginning trombone players to a song greatly influenced by World War II.
“Music is a creative art, and it is built into human nature- the need to create something which expresses something about that person to someone else. Music is one of the most important forms of expression because it goes beyond words and expresses what goes beyond words,” Human said.