Note: The following tribute was written by Bob George, a close friend and colleague of Vondis Miller, who currently lives in the Lethbridge area but also lived in Calgary during Vondis' time there. Bob was part of the administrative team for the Wind Conducting Programme for a number of years. This was written for the memorial service in Tucson to represent some of Vondis' many contributions to the Province of Alberta.
I have known many brilliant and talented people, and they all fascinate me. I have known some truly honest people, and they are all admirable. I have known very few people who are consistantly gracious, caring and polite; they inspire me. It is ever so much more rare to find an individual with all these characteristics, but Vondis Miller did, and I had the profound honor to be his friend.
I met Vondis in a situation which exemplifies the breadth and depth of this visionary’s contribution to his profession and his collegues. He established a summer workshop in order to enhance the jazz education being offered in our community. Like many other programs offered across North America, this was based on a fun week of quality instruction for high school students, but to increase the impact, he also incorporated a summer school credit course for teachers. Vondis, however, would never be satisfied with a good idea run well, so he employed the services of high profile guest instructors to add both breadth and depth to the program. That jazz workshop has survived moves, over the years, to each of the three Alberta universities, but it continues to operate over 20 years later. Vondis was to join me in the summer of 2005, to conduct two of the bands for the 25th anniversary of a workshop he helped me found and operate.
Vondis had a way of making people exceed their own imagination and dreams. His quiet honesty, and constant desire to improve drove many of us to reach beyond ourselves. The list of innovative ideas traceable to the fertile imagination of Vondis Miller is, no doubt, beyond my knowledge. I know that prominent leaders in our profession, such as Max McKee, Frank Battisti, and Timothy Renish were friends and close colleagues. But I also know that hundreds of educators credit much of their success to his tireless efforts. Like the jazz workshop, his impact on the many associations he joined will be felt for decades, as those he inspired continue to work for their shared dreams. A great deal of the depth of my friendship with Vondis and Linda came through the endless nights of discussion and work as the University of Calgary’s conducting diploma program took shape and grew. Because of the international scope of that progam, we will likely never trace the total impact it had. At the core, it was special because everyone who wanted to work hard was welcome to work with the best in our business, growing as much and as quickly as we could.
Vondis described himself as a music educator and administrator, but the terms which better describe his personal and professional life are visionary and missionary. The fact that he was able to project that image while always being a kind and gracious gentleman make all of his successes that much more remarkable. Those of us lucky enough to have had extended personal contact with this fine man, know that his dreams will live on in each of us, and all of our progeny.
My favorite quote from Vondis, in many ways the summation of his career, is:
When you fly with the Eagles, you won’t get shot with the crows.
Fly on, my friend. We miss you, but we will keep the dream alive.
Bob
©2003 WASBE