Who is Alex Wimmer, K-State’s new director of bands?
After 33 years under Frank Tracz, KSU Bands has a new director. Alex Wimmer is no stranger to the program, though, having served virtually every other role within it at one time or another.
But how well do you know him? Let’s get better acquainted with K-State’s newest director of bands.
Can you tell us a little about your background?
I grew up in Gretna, Nebraska. I went to high school there, and then I did my undergrad in music education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. That’s also where I met my wife, Anna, and long story short, we got married and I started my public-school teaching career shortly afterward in my hometown — the place where my love of music began.
What experience in Gretna inspired you to teach music?
As a 7th grader, I was placed in the 8th grade band because there weren’t enough percussionists. Each year the district would do a combined concert with the 8th grade and high school bands. I fell in love with band at that concert, listening to the high school play John Zdechlik’s “Chorale and Shaker Dance.” That’s what did it.
Through leadership positions in high school marching band, I began to think teaching music could be a career for me. It was between that, becoming a psychologist or joining the military at that time. (My mom is happy I chose music!)
How did you wind up at K-State?
I had great teachers in college — now dear friends and mentors — who challenged me almost to the point of wanting to quit music. But if they hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Those mentors told me I had what it takes to be a college band director someday, and that planted the idea in my head.
Still, I was happy teaching in Gretna and thought that was where I’d stay. Then, during my second year, I saw Dr. Tracz do a fantastic honor band performance and teaching workshop. He’s a great conductor, a great musician and a great rehearser, and he really knows the craft of music and the spirit of music education. I knew I had to go study with him.
I got an assistantship at K-State and studied here for five years, earning my master’s and my Ph.D. Both my daughters, Addison and Anora, were born while I worked toward my Ph.D.
The director of bands is responsible for a lot more than halftime shows (though that alone would be a full-time position). What’s included in your new role?
As director of bands, I’ll oversee the entirety of the band program. I’ll direct the marching band and concert bands, and oversee basketball, volleyball and pub crawl bands in a supervisory capacity. Luckily for me, because of my graduate work, I’ve done every job there is in the band program. I’m fortunate to have that institutional knowledge, which allows me to be not just a supervisor, but hopefully a mentor to my two new colleagues and the grad students we have as well.
I provide the vision for the marching band, but also the means to be able to achieve that vision. I supervise the administrative work and rehearsals. This year, show planning is 100% my responsibility because the schedule had to be set before my colleagues were hired and could add their input. It’s my job to figure out who’s going to write drill, which I’ll do for a couple of years to ensure the feel and the traditions that everyone expects are retained. As Dr. Tracz would say, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
You and other K-State Band faculty often branch out into the community to work with nearby school districts. What other outreach efforts do you hope to arrange?
Something I hope to do in the next five years is to travel with K-State and showcase what we bring to the world. Dr. Tracz took the wind ensemble to Carnegie Hall in April, which is an incredible experience. I was able to perform on that stage when I was a Ph.D. student, and it was a huge recruiting boost for us. I also had the honor of conducting at the Kennedy Center in 2018.
I want to seek opportunities for the K-State concert ensembles to perform at regional and national events. There are opportunities overseas as well, and I want to find ways for all the students who have poured so much energy and effort into band to experience that.
Do you have a teaching philosophy similar to Tracz’ “Leave it better than you found it?” Or does that come with time?
It’s definitely still taking form, but when I leave each morning, I tell my daughters to try hard and do their best. No matter what you’re doing, as long as you’re working hard and you’re doing your best, that’s all anyone can ask of you.
My mom always told me that anything of quality takes hard work, time, commitment and sacrifice. And if you are not willing to go all-in on those things, you can’t expect the reward. Nothing given, everything earned.
What do you ask of yourself as an educator?
I want to just continue to pour into students the way Dr. Tracz did, and to develop their leadership skills, regardless of whether they’re a section leader. Any member should walk out of this program with everything they’d need to nail a job interview. Not just for their work ethic, but because they’re able to transfer the lessons you can only learn from music to anything — engineering, architecture, biology, vet med, etc.
That’s kind of an unspoken rule, as a director of an ensemble. You’re teaching music, but you’re also teaching human beings to become better people. Music becomes the vehicle to better the world. Thinking back to when I was a seventh grader, I remember walking out of that gym thinking, “Wow, I can change the world if I can be in a band and play like that.” I felt like a million bucks.
How can we bottle that up? And then how can students take that with them wherever they go, to be better equipped to face challenges head on?
What are you most looking forward to in the coming years?
I love every aspect of the job, and I know that I’m extremely fortunate to be sitting in this chair.
I hope I can embrace it in every single way that Dr. Tracz did. Whether it’s emails or it’s pouring over spreadsheets or it’s all the planning and admin work, I’m looking forward to doing it so well that when it’s time for rehearsals, we’re all dialed in and focused on the music with our bags left at the door.
I want to be myself, but still embody the passion and the drive required to continue what everyone expects of the band program that’s been built over 33 years. Hopefully I can do my part to make Dr. Tracz and the thousands of students who’ve passed through the K-State band program over those years proud, feeling like they can still call it their own.
There are lots of ways to support Wildcat musicians — you can support K-State Bands through student scholarships; instrument, uniform and equipment maintenance; and more.
