Note from the Office of Alumni and Parent Engagment: Making Music and Memories

One of my greatest joys in life is that I get to make music for a living. For more than 30 years, I taught music in several high schools and universities outside of South Carolina before coming home to Furman. My career revolves around two things I love – music and people. What an honor it is to help musicians create inspiring or enjoyable music and then to share it with others. There is a sense of community that is unique and an emotional connection that is powerful.

This summer, we took that community and connection and created the inaugural Furman Bands Alumni Association and Biennial Reunion. Furman alumni from the 1960s – and every decade between then and now – gathered for music and camaraderie and a joyful celebration on campus June 26-27. More than 100 classmates traveled from near and far (even as far away as Canada, Maine and Wisconsin) to reunite and reconnect.

To prepare for our performance, we had to get in shape a bit and had rehearsals of music that included patriotic selections and traditional Furman songs such as “Brown Eyes” and the Furman fight song featured in the traditional march “Our Director.” Former Furman Band Directors Les Hicken and Jay Bocook ’87, along with current Associate Director of Bands David Stanley ’14 and I rehearsed with the alumni musicians in preparation for a performance that would take place the following day.  Those alumni who elected not to play their instruments this time (or had been color guard or dance team members) had a tour of campus and of the library archives and enjoyed seeing videos and photos of Furman history. All of us gathered for a cocktail hour and beautiful banquet celebration on Wednesday evening. The culminating event of the reunion was a performance of the Alumni Reunion Band with the Lakeside Community Band and the Greenville Chorale on Thursday evening at the amphitheater. This patriotic concert drew an audience of more than 5,000 from the Upstate and ended with a spectacular fireworks display.

Nothing was more spectacular, however, than the laughter, the connections, the joy and the music that we shared at this reunion. Roommates and classmates who hadn’t seen each other in decades – much less made music together – were brought to tears through the reconnection and shared experiences. Even more, Furman Bands alumni from across generations established new connections with each other. For example, Kathryn Bryant ’66 and Kirsten Arms ’21 drummed together in the percussion section, and Ben Dubose ’71, Kevin Styles ’81, Jason Ray ’12 and others from across Furman generations played together in the trumpet section. While they may have experienced Furman as students in different times, they now have this new connection through the Furman Alumni Reunion Band. They can now look forward to returning to our beautiful Furman campus every two years to gather, to make music, to reconnect and to celebrate.

Furman University and music are ties that bind us all – not for a living, but for life.

Sue Samuels, a 1987 Furman graduate, has served as director of bands and music education coordinator since 2019.