By Sam Desatoff
Dr. Gary Gilroy, a music professor and the director of bands at Fresno State, was admitted into the American Bandmasters Association (ABA) last month.
The ABA was founded in 1929 and recognizes outstanding achievement on the part of concert band conductors and composers. Membership in the association is exclusive, comprising of approximately 300 band conductors and composers in the U.S. and Canada.
The annual ABA conference took place in Montgomery, Ala., from March 6-8.
“I am thrilled to get in,” Gilroy said. “I’ve known many great conductors who have been rejected, so just going up for it was a bit stressful. When I heard ‘Congratulations’ on the phone, I was very surprised and happy.”
“Dr. Gilroy is very deserving of the membership in the ABA,” said Dr. Tony Mowrer, chairman of the music department at Fresno State and a longtime colleague of Gilroy.
“He has had an impact on bands worldwide. He has written music for all levels of ensemble, from simple music to very complicated,” he said. “He is quite active as a clinician, and his advice is sought by directors everywhere.”
Gilroy began his music career in 1980 as band director at Moreau High School in Hayward. Soon after, he took a job at Fred. C. Beyer High School in Modesto.
“We won the 1987 Bands of America AAA Championship,” Gilroy recalled.
The band also took the title at the 1991 Fiesta Bowl National Pageant of Bands in Phoenix, Ariz., and was awarded the Sulder Shield from the John Phillip Sousa Foundation in 1992.
Gilroy has been at Fresno State for the past 21 years, the most recent eight of which he has served as director of bands.
When he first arrived at Fresno State, Gilroy was appointed director of the Bulldog Marching Band.
“It has been a very long and, at times, rough road,” he said. “When I first started here, there were many who thought of me as only a high school director of bands who was not really ready to lead a college marching band.”
Gilroy proved his detractors wrong and spent 13 years in that position before becoming director of bands in 2006.
“I was thrilled to win the job as director of bands after a national search,” Gilroy said. “It was like starting over because many saw me as only a marching band director.”
Since Gilroy took over as director of bands, the music department at Fresno State has enjoyed much success.
“[In 2009] our wind orchestra was featured at the California All-State Music Educators Convention,” he said.
The Wind Orchestra was also featured at the 2010 Grainger Wind Festival held in Chicago, Ill.; the 2012 College Band Directors National Association Western Division Convention in Reno, Nev.; and the Los Angeles International Music Festival held in the Disney Concert Hall. Most recently, the wind orchestra took part in the 2014 California All-State Music Educators Convention.
Gilroy emphasized his gratitude for his time at Fresno State.
“Today’s wind orchestra is the most amazing group I have ever conducted, and I feel incredibly honored to be their conductor,” he said. “They are a real joy to work with.”
Mowrer says that Gilroy’s success can be attributed to his strong work ethic. “[Dr. Gilroy] is unconcerned with issues of unit load,” Mowrer said. “He is interested in doing what he can for his students, even if it means he works with an overload. He is a highly valued colleague.”
