Tod Timmel |
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Cello (GS), Tenor (CH) |
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I grew up in southern Wisconsin where my father was the "bandleader" for over forty years. I found ways for my parents to stop my violin playing and they switched me to cornet. My first instrument was not a b-flat instrument (a donation which is all we could afford) so I had to adjust the tuning slide to get as close to a b-flat instrument as I could. I learned to hate marching band but developed a love for concert band. I was promoted to first chair Fluegle horn in a section of one where I had a small solo in Handel's Royal Fireworks and was hooked.
I worked in hospitals from the time I was sixteen and that paid for my college education, graduating from The University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee with a degree in Economics. I spent the rest of my career working in procurement and contracting most of which was at The Genesee Hospital but retired from Rochester General in 2005. I have always been a music lover and wanted to play again ( I hadn't played since High School) and read about New Horizons in the local papers. I joined in 2007 and remember at an early rehearsal pinching myself to see if I was really playing in a concert band, not imagining that would ever happen again. My late wife Anjel and I raised and educated four children one of who still lives in the area. I have four grandchildren and one great grandchild. I love playing in New Horizons, sailing my boat on Lake Ontario, doing church music and other church related work, volunteering at a hospice and tutoring K and first graders at school nine in Rochester. In 2021, for medical reasons, Tod discontinued the trumpet and went back to the string world, now playing the cello. This led to the revised story of Tod's musical life shown below. Revised 2/2/2024 You can only imagine my reaction, when at my first cello lesson in 2020, my teacher instructed me to start each lesson by hugging my instrument. Hugging and demonstrative behavior was never part of my German heritage, but love was, and so with a hug in the privacy of my home, my cello journey began. I had played cornet, trumpet and fluegle horn in grade school and high school and typical of many New Horizons musicians had never forgotten the joy of making music with others. In a bittersweet moment I found out about New Horizons in an obituary about Ed Mizma, one of our original band conductors. I had just retired and I wanted to find out more so I called Marcia Bornhurst Parkes, a conductor at the time and in 2005 I quickly moved into the Concert Band. I remember the thrill of playing The Royal Fireworks music and Victory at Sea: two of my favorites from High School days. I liked playing in New Horizons Concert Band and the camaraderie of my fellow musicians. I soon found that being in New Horizons was similar to being locked in a candy store where you just can't get enough. I played trumpet in the Jazz Band, Antique Brass, and the Orchestra. Then on a dark October day in 2020 I was told by my cardiologist that I could no longer play the trumpet. I remembered Pricilla Brown talking about fellow musicians that had changed instruments for health reasons. I had always said that I loved cello and would certainly play it in the next life. (My dog Little Bear wishes I had taken that option). How hard could it be? Four strings and a bow. I never considered I would need to learn bass clef, and I'm still struggling with the physics of beautiful sound. Dr Kodzas and others were helpful in moving me to the world of strings. I was quickly introduced to Cheryl Guth, the director of Green Strings. She is a marvelous educator and conductor. This all happened right in the beginning of the Covid pandemic and instead of sitting around drinking Clorox I discovered Zoom. My private instructor (pray for her) resides in Interlochen Michigan and I continue Zoom study with her. As a true music lover I enjoy all sorts of music including choral singing. I had started singing in church choir as a child. Music enhanced and has become an important part of my spiritual and worship journey. At one of the first Spring Flings I discovered the New Horizons chorus. I had not sung secular music in a long time and thought it might be fun. Our conductor, Juli Elliot, is not only an amazing singer but teaches the physiology of singing in addition to all the other aspects of choral singing. I had never had any formal vocal training and welcomed this. And so as my musical journey continues; with more love of music than talent, and as age and health issues take their inevitable toll, I will hug my cello tighter and sing and sing and sing some more |
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