The bleachers screech as shuffled footsteps rub against the metal seats. A conjunction of sounds and movements blur the stadium. Euphonium fills the ears of every being for miles, for the band blares its highest and lowest pitches that intertwine in perfect melody.
The Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) Javelina Marching Band makes its way down to the field to perform its half-time show. Energy surges amongst the band members as they mentally prepare themselves for their rendition of AC/DC. The drum line starts the clicks, leading the band onto the field in rhythm.
“Let’s have a good show everybody!” Associate Professor and Assistant Director of Bands Dr. George Schrader said as he walked off the field, turned and watched his band, under his tutelage, ready to prove itself. That may have been a previous season, but each one is memorable to the band director.
Every moment of Schrader’s life has led him all the way to this moment, to this university, to South Texas, the Down Under of the United States.
A decade after his birth in Midland, Mich., in 1982, Schrader’s natural gift for music revealed itself in the fourth grade. At that time, Schrader was selected in an elementary and middle school honors choir at Western Michigan University. From there his journey began.
“Even before I was in fourth grade, I attended my church, which sang all of their music acapella,” Schrader said. “Our pastor at the time, and his wife were both excellent musicians, and a lot for me in my early musical training. My ear for music grew tremendously in my young years.”
He began playing the trumpet in the fifth grade. A year later Schrader won the position of first chair in the trumpet section. In the summer leading to seventh grade he attended the Blue Lake Summer Music Camp which neighbored Muskegon, Mich. During his time there, he entered as a trumpet player and left as an alto voice for the Blue Lake International Mixed Choir after auditioning. This gave Schrader the opportunity to travel to Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands at just 13 years old.
Schrader was involved in band, choir and chorale while attending South Haven High School, an institution “blessed to have a quality music program.” For three years, Schrader was drum major of his marching band, a regular member of All-State ensembles and graduated with honors. And in 2002, Schrader marched in DCI (Drum Corps International) for the Phantom Regiment.
He first attended Michigan State University (MSU), where he was a member of the Spartan Brass marching band, the basketball pep band and the concert ensembles. Schrader then transferred to Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Mich., at which he then flourished in his classes. He graduated in 2007 with a B.A in Music Education.
A few months before his graduation in 2007, Schrader was accepted in the master’s program at the University of New Mexico. After accepting the offer, he made the move down to Albuquerque a couple of months after graduation. During that school year, Schrader taught part-time at La Cueva High School as the Assistant Director of Bands. He shortly dropped out of the master’s program to work full-time for four years because of financial needs.
Before dropping out, however, Schrader met Whitney, a euphonium and sousaphone player. The two worked for the Farmington and Bloomfield districts in New Mexico. After three years, they wed in 2010.
From there, Whitney and George Schrader moved to three different states from 2013 to 2019, which led them to the University of Wyoming in Laramie, at which Schrader was given the opportunity to direct the largest marching band (235 members) in Laramie’s school history. A year later, in mid-2016, Schrader was accepted into the doctoral program in wind conducting at the University of Oklahoma, and he and Whitney moved for the second time. In between that time, Whitney and George Schrader had their first child, Norah.
During Spring 2019, Schrader earned the position of Interim Associate Director of Bands at TAMUK, which he took as a permanent position in the Spring 2020. He is currently the director of the Javelina Marching band, TAMUK Concert Band, assists the university bands and teaches undergraduate music education courses.
“The phone calls were not coming, and our stress was extremely high due to an unknown future,” Whitney said. “Finally, early in the summer, he received an offer to interview at TAMUK, [and] was later offered the position as Interim Associate Director of Bands, and we agreed he should accept. […] George moved in late July that summer (2019), and I continued to work in Norman until September, when I finally had a job lined up in Corpus Christi. Living apart for almost two months was very hard. We have committed to not letting that ever happen again, so we hope we can indeed avoid that in the future.”
Now a band director at TAMUK, Schrader says he enjoys having a connection with young musicians by providing a venue “where students can collaborate, create, develop, grow and mature.”
“Dr. Schrader is a good fit for our marching program and is an all-around decent man,” Music major and French Horn player Gilberto Salinas said. “I truly feel like, as a band director, he has a lot of great ideas that he is implementing whilst running our marching band program. […] I believe that he will be able to boost our marching band program to the next level.”
Back onto the field, the Javelina Marching Band finishes its last note, with fists in the air as they strike their last pose and immerses themselves in the roaring cheers coming from the stands. They march off toward a beaming Schrader as he shouts his approval. This is his band, his work, his passion, his present and his future.
“Though our journey to this point has had both ups and downs, I am extremely happy for my husband and proud of his accomplishments,” Whitney said. “We look forward to many years now of life without graduate school, and simply being a loving family while enjoying the many adventures life has to offer.”