Michael Knight steps down as associate band director
Associate band director Michael Knight takes position in Wisconsin.
Published May 7, 2010
Michael Knight announced he would be stepping down as associate director of bands at MU at the end of May to assume a position as director of bands and head of instrumental music education at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis.
As a result, the 2010 Mizzou Band Camp for junior high and high school students is cancelled.
The search for Knight's replacement will go public this week, School of Music Director Robert Shay said.
"I've been aware of his interest in seeking a different kind of position for a little while," Shay said.
It's not unusual for people to shift their focus to concert bands at some point in their careers, because working with large athletic bands like Marching Mizzou is very time consuming, Shay said.
"I know that Knight is excited about his new position, which will allow him to change gears somewhat and focus on his interests in concert bands and music education," Shay said in a letter to the School of Music.
Many of the students in the MU band programs are sad to see Knight leave, senior music education major Erik Dancy said.
"The man is a great teacher, and I was devastated a little bit to hear that he was leaving, even though I am graduating," Dancy said. "He left a legacy here that nobody is going to forget, so it's tough to see him go."
Although the Mizzou Band Camp is a good way to recruit prospective members for the bands, the cancellation of this year's camp shouldn't be a serious loss, Dancy said.
"I don't think it will be a significant deal, but I do think it will be important," Dancy said. "This is the one opportunity that students get to be on campus and get to play in the band with one of the conductors for the university."
Senior music education major Grace LaRose, who attended the Mizzou Band Camp when she was in junior high and was also a camp counselor, said the kids who would attend the camp will suffer the greatest disadvantage from its cancellation for several reasons.
"I think it acts as just a great experience for the kids, but it also acts as a recruiting tool because a lot of kids see the way our program works and they get to know some of the faculty, and they think about coming here," LaRose said.
The university won't be losing any money from the cancellation of the Mizzou Band Camp this year, Shay said.
"We generally don't make much money off of those camps," Shay said. "We do it more for a kind of outreach. Our enrollments were not that high yet, so we didn't feel like we'd be losing too much to cancel."
With the search for a replacement going public this week, applications should start coming in next week, and a choice should be made in a few weeks time, Shay said.
"He was a really great director, but I'm sure we'll find someone who could do the job well," LaRose said. "I don't think we're going to get worse or anything."
Even if the MU bands don't visibly suffer next year, they will definitely be affected in a big way, Dancy said.
"The man is brilliant, and again is an excellent teacher and a great leader, and he's really professional and he teaches you to be professional, so I think that losing him to any university is going to affect the people next year," Dancy said.