2009 Civic Band - 3 Legends

Read about Randy, Glen & Mark

Randy Hopf
My mom made sure that I had piano lessons from very early on. She told me that when I was just a year or so old, I would stand by a little record player for hours, listening to the old 78 records the family had. I was also a victim of the accordion craze that went on in the 40’s and 50’s. I started to take Clarinet lessons at Randall School when I was in 5th grade and hated it, so I quit. When I got to Waukesha Jr. High School in 7th grade, (now Central Middle School), a friend of mine and I were told that if we took band, we would be excused from taking Industrial Education. SOUNDED GOOD TO US!!! We went up to the Edison building and talked to Carl Dollinger, the band director at the time, and asked what instruments he needed. So Tom and I started playing the saxophone. Our biggest problem was that the saxophone parts were pretty easy, so we could play them right away and hated to wait for the rest of the band to catch up. We were going to quit, but Tom’s mom, Catherine Muehl, told us to ‘stick it out for one more year’ because the new band director, Jay Whitney was taking over. Mr. Whitney asked me to switch to clarinet because they needed clarinets in the band, so that was the start of my musical career.

I started performing with the Civic Band, although at the time it was the Weber Band, when I was a Junior in high school. This was the start of the program that Jay Whitney and Fred Sperl initiated in the late 50’s. It has been a wonderful opportunity for me to perform and grow by having the chance to sit with professional musicians and gain knowledge from their experience and expertise. When I was presented with the chance to conduct the group, because of Jay’s failing health, I was more than anxious to avial myself of the opportunity. It has been extremely gratifying to me to have so many of my former students performing with the band and extending their musical endeavors beyond their high school and college years. I’m looking forward to the upcoming concert season and wish to express my gratitude to all the persons who have made it possible.

Glen Lunde
Glen Lunde has been the Principal Trombonist, and General Manager of the Civic Band from 1983 to the present. His duties include coordination with the Waukesha School District to identify and connect the educational and performance opportunity with selected Juniors of the three area high schools. He hires the 40-45 professional musicians for each of the summer series concerts, obtains guest soloists and conductors, prepares and manages the annual budget, obtains and maintains the rehearsal and concert sites, and communicates with various city officials regarding the band.

He has been a band director in the School District of Waukesha since 1979, directing the bands of Waukesha Horning Middle School since 1982. In addition to his teaching duties, Glen Lunde has been the Music Department Chairman since 2004 and is currently the Curriculum Coordinator of K-12 Fine Arts. He has taught Trombone/Euphonium Pedagogy and is an Instructor of Methods of Brasswind Instruction at Carroll University and UW-Waukesha.

Receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Carroll College in 1980, he also earned the Masters of Music Education from VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois.

Staying very active as a performer and manager, Glen has been with the Waukesha Symphony Orchestra as Tenor Trombonist and Stage Manager since 1981, and the Principal Trombonist and General Manager of the Jazz Express Big Band since 1981.

Recent Awards include being accepted as a member of the Phi Beta Mu International School Bandmasters Fraternity, and being a Kohl Fellowship State Finalist.

Mark J. Helgert
Mark began his work with the Civic Band in 1976, and has performed in the clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone and percussion sections, in addition to his work as the announcer for the weekly summer concerts. Currently Mark is Director of Bands at Butler Middle School, and Music Director of the Jazz Express Big Band. He also does freelance performing and recording on saxophone, flute, clarinet and recorder in the Milwaukee area.

A graduate of Carroll College, Mark Helgert has been active in the musical community of southeastern Wisconsin since his arrival in 1973. In addition to his work at Butler, he has been Lecturer of Music in Applied Saxophone for Carroll University and the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha. Also a founding member of the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band, he served as its associate conductor.

As a composer, Helgert has had pieces performed at many universities and high schools throughout the U.S. One of his pieces, “Nightingales Wept in Tiananmen Square”, was listed in a recent University of Minnesota doctoral dissertation as a hallmark of contemporary college wind literature.

As an educator, Mark is listed in “Who’s Who Among American Educators”, is a Kohl Fellowship Recipient; nominee for Disney’s Awards for Teacher Excellence; and has been repeatedly named to Strathmore’s “Who’s Who”. Recently, Mark has been nominated for International Educator of the Year by a prominent European education consortium. In addition, Mark was accepted into Phi Beta Mu, the
International Bandmaster’s Fraternity, and was named the Wisconsin Federation of Music Clubs 2006 Caption Award winner, for excellence in the musical arts.

Mark lives in the city of Waukesha with his wife Gwenda, and their cats. He enjoys chess, ethnic food and “cheesy” movies.