John Rutherford Passed Away This Week; Our Hero

I had the choice of many photographs of Muskoka that I thought John would have liked, and I came upon this river-scape taken this weekend by my friend Fred Schulz, and I knew immediately this serene image would be a tribute to a kind and gentle man.

A splash of colour reflects in the Black River along the historic Cooper’s Falls Road on Sunday afternoon.   The colours have not reached their peak as of yet, but the evening frost will soon bring out the full beauty of the season. (Photo By Fred Schulz)

MEMORIAL TRIBUTE: JOHN RUTHERFORD PASSED AWAY THIS WEEK

     I WROTE A TRIBUTE TO JOHN RUTHERFORD, THE FORMER CONDUCTOR OF THE BRACEBRIDGE AND MUSKOKA LAKES SECONDARY SCHOOL BAND, THAT I KNOW FOR FACT, HE DIDN'T READ. WELL, YOU SEE, I DIDN'T SEND IT TO HIM. I THINK AT THE TIME, I WAS A LITTLE EMBARRASSED, BECAUSE JOHN DIDN'T REALLY CARE FOR BEING SINGLED-OUT, OR GIVEN A TRIBUTE, BECAUSE, IN TEACHING, HE FELT THAT IT WAS JUST A CASE OF HIM DOING HIS JOB THOROUGHLY. NOTHING SPECIAL. JUST HELPING TO BUILD CULTURE THROUGH MUSIC, AND PROVE TO STUDENTS, THAT HE COULD MAKE THEM INTO MUSICIANS IF THEY WERE WILLING TO WORK AS HARD AS HE WOULD COMMIT. HE DID THIS FOR ME. I DON'T KNOW WHY HE DECIDED I WAS NOT GOING TO FALL THROUGH THE CRACKS, ON HIS WATCH,  BUT HE DID THIS FOR A LOT OF OTHER STUDENTS; REFUSING TO GIVE UP IF WE HAD EVEN THE TINIEST SPARK OF AMBITION. HE COULD TAKE THAT MINUTE SIGN OF POTENTIAL, AND MAKE THE LEAST LIKELY OF US, INTO PERFORMERS. I BRAG ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIME, WHEN MY SONS, ANDREW AND ROBERT TALK ABOUT THEIR MUSICAL CONQUESTS. BY GOLLY, I TELL THEM ABOUT THE FAMOUS ENGLAND BAND, THAT JOHN RUTHERFORD MADE ME A PART OF.....AT THE LAST MOMENT OF MY HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE.

     I HAD JUST SAT DOWN THIS EVENING, TO WORK ON MY DAILY BLOG, WHEN SON ROBERT PHONED, TO TELL US THAT A CLOSE FAMILY FRIEND OF OURS, HAD RELAYED A MESSAGE, THAT JOHN HAD PASSED AWAY ON TUESDAY OF THIS WEEK. WHEN SUZANNE WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR, TO GIVE ME THE NEWS, I RESPONDED IMMEDIATELY......"IT'S JOHN RUTHERFORD ISN'T IT?" I'VE BEEN THINKING A LOT ABOUT JOHN LATELY, AND I'VE EVEN SPOKEN TO SOME OLD BAND MATES RECENTLY ABOUT THAT FORMER ENGLAND EXCURSION. WE DID KNOW THAT JOHN HAD BEEN IN FAILING HEALTH FOR SOME TIME. AS FOR THIS EVENING'S REVELATION, IT'S THE REASON I PULLED TODAY'S COPY, TO RE-RUN THIS LITTLE TRIBUTE I WROTE ABOUT JOHN, SOME TIME AGO. OF COURSE I REGRET NOT SENDING IT TO HIM, OR HIS FAMILY, BUT AT THE TIME, I WAS MORE DETERMINED THAT MY DAILY READERS, HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW WHAT THIS MAN MEANT TO ME OVER A NEAR LIFETIME. I WANTED HIS NAME TO BE JUST AS PROMINENT TO THE CULTURE OF OUR MUSKOKA REGION, AS IT WAS IN MY HIGH SCHOOL DAYS....WHEN EVERYONE KNEW THE NAME JOHN RUTHERFORD. SO I HOPE THAT THIS LITTLE EDITORIAL OFFERING READS AS THE TRIBUTE THAT WAS INTENDED, OF A WONDERFUL MAN, WHO GAVE US ALL, IN THOSE YEARS,  REASON TO BE EXCITED ABOUT WHAT WE COULD ACHIEVE, WITH ENCOURAGEMENT. HE WAS TOUGH, BUT HE WAS TRUE TO HIS WORD. HE LED BY EXAMPLE, AND I'D LIKE TO THINK, HE FELT WE HAD ACHIEVED THE GOALS HE HAD SET FOR US. BUT AS WAS HIS TRADITION.....IF YOU DIDN'T MEASURE UP, FIRST, YOU COULD SEE IT ETCHED ONTO HIS FACE....AND SECONDLY, HE WASN'T ADVERSE TO LETTING YOU KNOW, WE HAD COME IN UNDER EXPECTATION. IN THIS CASE, I'M PRETTY SURE HIS CONFIDENT SMILE, AT THE LAST CONCERT, OF MY LAST YEAR, SAID IT ALL.....AND FOR THE BAND, HE BOWED TO US AS A GESTURE OF RESPECT. WE ALL BOWED TO HIM, BECAUSE HE WAS OUR CHAMPION.

     THANK YOU JOHN RUTHERFORD.

IT WAS ABOUT 38 YEARS AGO THAT JOHN RUTHERFORD GAVE A KID A BREAK

"YOU WANT TO BE IN THE BAND TED……THEN SMARTEN UP!"

     IF I WAS MAYOR OF THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE, I WOULD PETITION FOR A SPECIAL DAY, ORGANIZE AN OPEN AIR CONCERT, AND GET A GREAT MARCHING BAND TO RECOGNIZE OUR VERY OWN "MUSIC MAN." I'M NOT THE MAYOR OF BRACEBRIDGE, AND I'M NOT SURE JOHN WOULD FORGIVE ME FOR MAKING A FUSS ABOUT A TIME IN OUR LIVES, WHEN HE WAS NOT ONLY THE LEADER OF THE BAND, BUT HE WAS, IN HIS OWN WAY, AN EXTRA FATHER IN ALL OUR FAMILIES. HE CARED ABOUT US, AND WE CARED ABOUT HIM. HE MADE HISTORY IN BRACEBRIDGE AND THE WIDER MUSKOKA, BECAUSE OF HIS PURSUIT AND ACHIEVEMENT OF EXCELLENCE. AS LONG AS I CAN PEN THESE TOMES, I WILL NEVER, EVER, LET OUR COMMUNITIES FORGET HOW HE PUT US ON THE MAP, IN RESPECT TO MUSIC, AND JUST HOW MUCH WE ENJOYED BEING IN THE LIMELIGHT HE INSPIRED……FOR ALL OF US. BUT IT DIDN'T COME EASILY, OR WITHOUT SACRIFICE. YET THERE WASN'T A SINGLE BAND MEMBER, IN THOSE YEARS OF THE EARLY 1970'S, WHO WOULDN'T HAVE FOLLOWED JOHN DOWN ANY PATH, BECAUSE WE TRUSTED HIM WITH OUR LIVES. AND WE ALL BENEFITTED FROM OUR ASSOCIATION WITH THIS TALENTED DIRECTOR, AND THOUGH MANY OF HIS STUDENTS MAY NOT HAVE HUGGED HIM AT GRADUATION, WE ALL WANTED TO…..

     EVEN AFTER FOUR YEARS OF STARING AT ME EVERY DAY OF THE SCHOOL WEEK, THE ONLY THING JOHN RUTHERFORD KNEW ABOUT ME, WAS THAT I DIDN'T GIVE UP EASILY. I PAID ATTENTION IN CLASS, DIDN'T DROP THE MOUTHPIECE OF MY BARITONE ON THE FLOOR, AND I FOLLOWED HIS DIRECTION THE BEST I COULD. THE BEST I COULD WAS SUBSTANDARD, YOU SEE, BUT JOHN DIDN'T GIVE UP TRYING TO MAKE LACK LUSTER APPEAR, AND SOUND, JUST A LITTLE BIT BETTER. I WASN'T A MUSIC NATURAL. SOME HAVE CALLED MY SONS, ANDREW AND ROBERT NATURALS. I WILL TELL THOSE WHO SAY THIS, THAT IT'S MORE LIKELY A MUSIC GENE, BECAUSE THEIR GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS A VIOLINIST, WHO HAD ASSOCIATION WITH THE TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, AND ON THEIR MOTHER'S SIDE, THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF GUITAR PLAYING FAMILY MEMBERS FROM THE HOMESTEAD ERA IN CANADA ONWARD. I EXPECT THEIR PLAYING GOES BACK TO OLD IRELAND AND ENGLAND, WHERE OUR FAMILY ORIGINATED. AS FOR ME? I GOT THE WRITING GENE, AND THAT REALLY DIDN'T HELP ME, WHEN JOHN RUTHERFORD STOOD ON THE PODIUM, TRYING TO CONDUCT HIS STUDENTS TO CONCERT-LEVEL…..HAVING TO PAUSE FREQUENTLY, TO REMIND ME ABOUT READING SLIGHTLY AHEAD, WITHOUT LOSING MY PLACE…..AND SCREWING UP EVERYONE ELSE. MY INSTRUMENT WAS LIKE A SMALL TUBA, AND WHEN I GOT LOST, BELIEVE ME, EVERYONE KNEW ABOUT THE MISCUE. I MAY HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR BROKEN BATONS, BUT HONEST TO GOD, I WAS TRYING TO STAY WITH EVERYONE ELSE. HE'D JUST LOOK AT ME, AND I SLIP DOWN A LITTLE IN MY CHAIR.

     I WANTED TO GET A HEAD START ON THE UPCOMING 40TH ANNIVERSARY, OF JOHN RUTHERFORD'S FAMOUS "SEND SOME MUSIC TO ENGLAND" CONCERT TOUR, DATING BACK TO THE SPRING OF 1974, WHERE STUDENTS FROM BRACEBRIDGE AND MUSKOKA LAKES SECONDARY SCHOOL, TRAVELLED TO NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND, AS ARRANGED IN LARGE PART, BY OUR PRINCIPAL AT THE TIME, KEN BLACK…..TODAY A COLUMNIST FOR "THE WEEKENDER," A FRIDAY PUBLICATION HERE IN MUSKOKA. I'M GETTING NOSTALGIC, AND JUST RECENTLY I'VE BUMPED INTO A FEW PEOPLE WHO WERE ON THAT SAME AMAZING TOUR, THAT REMINDED ME…..THAT AS MORE OF A WRITER, THAN A MUSICIAN, I SHOULD OF COURSE, PEN SOMETHING TO THANK JOHN RUTHERFORD FOR HIS FAITH IN US…..ME SPECIFICALLY, THAT WE COULD REPRESENT MUSKOKA ABROAD, AND BRING MANY CREDITS BACK TO OUR SCHOOL.  JOHN AND HIS WIFE DOROTHY WERE AT OUR WEDDING. JOHN HAD WORKED WITH SUZANNE, A NEW TEACHER AT THE TIME, AT BMLSS, SO WE BOTH FELT A CLAIM TO HIM. HE WAS IMPORTANT TO US. IT WAS THAT SIMPLE. HIS FRIENDSHIP HAD HELPED US BOTH THROUGH SOME TRYING TIMES….ME AS A STRUGGLING, AVERAGE STUDENT, AND SUZANNE AS A SCARED-TO-DEATH TEACHER. JOHN CALMED US DOWN. INSPIRED US. SHOWED US THE WAY THROUGH, AND IT WAS THE RIGHT WAY.

JOHN GAVE ME A CHANCE TO PROVE MYSELF…..AND I HOPE I DID.

     I'd been struggling in music since Grade Nine. My mother Merle, who had gone to the Royal Conservatory herself, at the urging of her violinist father, Stanley Jackson, believed that I had an ear for music. It was true. I loved music. I just couldn't play it as written. John Rutherford, the well known, and I dare say legendary conductor, of the BMLSS Concert Band, often scolded me that, "Ted, please play the music as it is written……not how you think it should be played!"

     It was about this time of year, in the autumn of 1973 that John cornered me in the hallway, and while I thought it was going to be a lecture about proper storage of my baritone, or some assignment I was missing, he said with considerable patience in his voice….which was a little rare, that this was the year. "Do you want to be in the band Ted?" He looked into my soul to see if there was even a flicker of will, that despite my answer, he would know the truth of conscience. "This is your last chance you know," he said. I was in my fifth year of music, and by golly, here it was, the ninth inning, bases loaded, and I've got two strikes and three balls, and the pitch is coming down the pike. "We're taking the band to England in the spring, and it would be nice to have you ready in time." I stood there, half-fallen into my locker, trying to answer in a complete sentence. I must have said "well" and "but" thirty times, before he got the message that I was willing to do anything to fit in…..anywhere. I would have been beside myself, literally, even if he had invited me along as equipment manager. 

     I stood there, staring up at him, wondering if I had heard him correctly. It was the first I'd heard about a trip to England. And frankly, I'd given up on being invited to join the band, and just graduate the coming spring with knowledge, I had, at the very least, put in my five years with average success, diploma in hand, and a lot of fond memories of songs I liked to play. Here was the big guy inviting me to join the band, hinged on my willingness to work hard to attain his level of stellar performance. I knew John Rutherford as a hugely talented musician, singer, and teacher. Part of the reason I stuck with the music program, was his compelling way of making his students work harder to achieve their own goals…..not just his own. He gave us the encouragement to be better at our art form. He was tough and relentless, but there was even something about his moments of rage, when he'd snap his conductor's baton in two, that made us curious about the man and his art. As one would watch a bear eating a live salmon in a couple of gulps, it was hard to turn away, when John began stomping around the music room, in a tirade about carelessness with the instruments, particularly mouthpieces that often fell and bounced off the floor. It was like God had set down a twister in the room, but you couldn't look away, even though there could be collateral damage, making eye contact with the storm unharnessed. It wasn't a lot to ask, to hang onto our mouthpieces. But every day, son of a gun, one would hit the floor. I knew what the sound of silence was like! The precious and heart stopping moment before John could react. I think I could even hear his blood pressure rising…his heart pounding out his chest. Like I said. You couldn't look away, because it was so dramatic. First the baton went, then the pacing began, then the roar of a voice from deep within, and if you didn't know better, or have seen it all before, well, you'd swear this was what the end of the world would sound and look like. Back on the podium, it was as if he had deflated into a peaceful semi-tranquility, and I've got to tell you, we did exactly what he requested, for fear there would be another eruption. Truth is, he scared me a few times, but not after about grade eleven. He was motivating us, to stop dropping equipment on the floor. It was a simple request. We should have been able to handle it. We were playing symphonies for God's sake. How hard could it be to keep mouthpieces in our steady hands?

     I couldn't write a tribute piece about John Rutherford, without noting this penchant for outburst, which I often assumed to be more motivational for us, than a generator of sudden fear that the conductor was directing anger at us specifically. We didn't like to think we contributed to his dismay, so we worked hard to avoid such incidents….of which we felt, by the way, he was fully entitled. He was a brilliant man. He was eccentric at the same time. But there wasn't a one of us, sitting beneath and beyond his podium, in the classroom, or on the stage, who didn't know the genius imbedded in the dominant silhouette, directing us against the glare of lights……some times at large cavernous venues in England, playing for an audience of accomplished musicians. Even those who knew their symphonies well, would congratulate John Rutherford at the end of the concerts, on having created a fine group of performers. When John asked me if I was ready to work hard, in order to make the cut, for Concert Band selection, I looked at him, as if he had just bestowed a life enhancing gift on the unsuspecting urchin, who never expected such a burden of trust. It was a burden in many ways, because I knew what my deficiencies were, and the upgrades I would need to make. Yet it all came down to one thing. John had told me, in a tight budget of words and spartan emotion, that I was proficient enough, to have a solid base to make improvements. There were students not asked to join the band. He saw something in me, I hadn't known about. I wasn't a quitter, and that was a place to start.

     I have had a lot of role models to choose from, when waxing biographical. I have paid very close attention, throughout my life, to those people I admired, for any number of reasons. John Rutherford may have been my first, fully recognized, serious mentor; and truth be known, as I'm sure it is, I could be as volatile in reaction, in writing, as he was on the podium while conducting. Not in a violent way, but emphatic, and aggressive, about achieving improvements. I admired him for his willingness to go where others had failed, and he picked musical adventures that challenged us to the core. I mean this. This is not just a sentimental over-characterization, for the purpose of an interesting blog. The man had an aura that burned, and when he put a challenge in front of us, he did so knowing full well, that to attain the level of performance he demanded, sacrifice and brutally hard work had to be realized…….because it was never just proficiency. He knew we had to, like a greyhound on a race track, chase something that interested us. For me, first of all, it was making the band in time to be included in the Concert Band roster. It happened, and it was the result of wanting to be included in something I knew would be great. I wasn't wrong about this, and John knew full well, that the experience would change a lot of lives. We would all come to know, before that trip was over, just how we could achieve objectives by committing to a dynamic, stalwart work ethic. Even fair musicians can become exceptional if they so desire. I didn't become a great or legendary baritone player in the England Band of 1974. I did show John Rutherford, that his faith in me was justified, and that, I think, made both of us happy, and contented,…….that everything had worked out for the best.

     No matter what we have done in the past, to recognize the 1974 adventure, we have never paid proper recognition to this kind, talented, dynamic conductor / teacher, John Rutherford. He changed my outlook on life in a thousand different ways. I don't play the baritone any more. But I do write. I just transferred to an instrument that I was more comfortable with over the long haul…….and this keyboard in front of me now, is playing an Opus for a friend. Thank you John Rutherford, for believing in this kid, when few others did. The band trip of 1974 was a milestone for the town and Muskoka, which we felt we represented. There were other trips to England, for the concert band, but like the Canada-Russia hockey tournament, the first one is always the best. Maybe John will be mad at me for writing this blog, but I don't care. It has to be said…..and I am its writer. And if I wanted to, I could get dozens more testimonials, in agreement, that John Rutherford made music history in our communities, and of this, we are forever grateful. A reunion. Wouldn't that be nice. You know where I am!