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ALUMNI PERSPECTIVE WITH LEN MONTGOMERY, CLASS OF 1989 Len has been teaching at the same school since his graduation in 1989, Brethren Christian High School, now in Huntington Beach. His responsibilities there include teaching Beginning Band for 7th graders, High School Jazz I, High School Jazz II, and High School Wind Symphony. His programs have been very successful, as noted by the fact that the school’s Jazz I Band was one of 10 bands invited to the Monterey Jazz Festival high school competition last April, and then was one of only three bands invited to actually perform in the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival last September. Both jazz bands will travel to the Reno Jazz Festival this spring, and the Wind Symphony, in addition to performing in the Biola Invitational Band Festival this year, is planning a New York City performance tour for 2005-2006. In a recent Conservatory of Music interview, Len shared the following thoughts and observations regarding his Biola education: CM: How did Biola prepare you for life in general, and particularly for your current career? LM: The biblical training was invaluable. And the broadness and depth of the Bible curriculum was a lot more valuable than I realized or appreciated at the time. It gave me a grounding in the faith and in issues of the faith that I wouldn’t have otherwise received. The relationships I had at Biola also challenged me and prepared me for life. The musical education I received gave me a solid footing both as a performer and as a teacher. So many students and professors provided not only valuable input and training, but also valuable modeling of good teaching and good musicianship. The amount of performing we were asked to do was stretching, and great preparation for life as a music teacher. I was surprised at the multi-tasking it takes to be a band director. CM: What do you feel are the greatest strengths of the music program? LM: High standards, rigorous classical training, emphasis on performance skills, and . . . passion! So many places have the technical things in place, but the music lacks the risk-taking and passion that is typical of Biola’s ensembles. CM: What was your experience with the integration of faith and learning, and how did Biola and the Conservatory have an influence in developing your Christian worldview? LM: College blew me out of the water! Like many students entering college, I thought I would be finding most, if not all, of the answers. Instead, I found more questions than I could keep track of. (Only now can I appreciate [class piano teacher] Carolyn Johnson’s admonition to “enjoy the confusion.”) And yet, I learned at Biola that the truth is not something to fear, because God is true. Biola offered me a historical perspective on Christianity, something I lacked entirely, despite growing up in church. Biola also offered the challenge of getting involved in ministry. The difficulty and “busy-ness” of musical study can easily crowd that out, and being at Biola helped me keep that in perspective. Sacred music is of course studied in all schools, but at Biola I was able to learn to appreciate the great sacred tradition and to treat music as an act of worship. Biola was not all study and work for Len. He had some fond memories of his time in the halls of Crowell, including the evening he had inaccurately judged the time it would take him to be on an on-campus date and still make it to most of an orchestra rehearsal. Mr. Owen sent a runner to the event where Len was eating dinner with the statement that rehearsal would not begin until Len appeared. At that point Len’s priorities were straightened out and he trudged off to the rehearsal, never to miss one again. He also recalls the night on band retreat when the students rounded up as many digital watches as they could find, set the alarms for different wee hours of the morning, and hid them in various places throughout the cabin of the band director, Mr. Lutke! Preparing students for life in general, and particularly for a career, are primary goals of the Conservatory. Len has taken what he has learned at Biola into his career, and we are gratified that he is now modeling excellence to other students of music. |
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