Short Story
David Zerkel is Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at the University of Michigan, leading an active career as both a performer and educator. Before his arrival at Michigan, he taught in a similar position at the University of Georgia. His students have distinguished themselves by winning international and national competitions and attaining positions with professional performing organizations. He is a Past President of the International Tuba Euphonium Association and was selected as the inaugural recipient of the ITEA Teaching Award.
David began his performing career as a member of the United States Army Field Band and The United States Army Band, both located in Washington, DC. He has had the good fortune to perform with many fine orchestras and brass ensembles through the course of his career.
David has performed as a featured soloist at many workshops and symposia, including the Leonard Falcone Festival, several International Tuba Euphonium Conferences, and the United States Army Band Tuba Euphonium Workshop. In addition, he has performed as a solo recitalist at many of the leading colleges and conservatories in the United States. He has released three solo CDs: American Music for Tuba, Tuba Helper, and his latest CD, Journey, which features the music of John Stevens.
David’s primary mentors were David Bragunier, Ed Livingston and David Fedderly.
David has served as the President of the International Tuba Euphonium Association. His summer teaching activities include a position at the Interlochen Arts Camp. He lives in Dexter, Michigan with his lovely bride, Kristin.
Long Story
I grew up in Frederick, Maryland and began my career in music as a middle of the pack trumpet player at Middletown Elementary School. Why the trumpet? Well, there was one in the coat closet that my brother spurned in favor of football and girls, so I figured I’d take it up, seeing as I had very little potential in football and girls. In the 7th grade, the need for orthodonture cut my trumpet playing career short. I asked my band director for a transfer to the baritone section, but he denied my request as there was a more acute need for tubas. And here we are.
I was fortunate to attend the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore for my undergraduate degree. It was just what I needed– a place with a serious music culture and a collection of highly motivated peers. I had no idea how little I actually knew about being a serious musician, but I noticed the deficit immediately and made every effort to play catch up as quickly as I could. My teacher at Peabody, David Bragunier, was a kind and attentive mentor who placed a very high value on musicianship. During my time there, I entered a recital competition called the Peabody Concours that was open to all of the students in the conservatory. Much to my surprise, I won the competition as a sophomore, placing ahead of some rightfully confused and dismayed concert pianists. This was my first indication that maybe I had what it took to become a professional musician. I took some auditions, but rarely advanced out of the first round.
Following my graduation from Peabody in 1985, I took a flier on attending graduate school at Illinois State University. I had never set foot on campus, and only met the professor over the phone. As it turns out, that professor, Ed Livingston, would prove to be one of the most influential mentors I’d ever have. He possessed an incredibly positive and gracious spirit and taught me many things about being an effective human that I’m not sure I would have picked up anywhere else. Although his impact on me was huge, there wasn’t enough going on at Illinois State to keep my game moving forward and I decided to leave after one year. Upon the advice of Ed Livingston and David Bragunier, I auditioned for the Army Field Band, which was the place that they had both begun their careers.
I probably could have predicted that I wouldn’t have felt one hundred percent comfortable in an Army uniform. I was raised in a fairly liberal family and can vividly remember my parents’ activism during the era of the Vietnam War and Civil Rights movement. Today, I am very happy that I had the experiences that I had in the band. I met some wonderful musicians and good friends, and I got to sleep indoors and eat food as a result of playing my instrument. In hindsight, I wasn’t nearly as appreciative of the experience as I should have been. My experiences in the Army Field Band and “Pershing’s Own” were very different, but each allowed for my growth in their own way.
During my time in the service, I took a lot of auditions for orchestras, coming up empty each time. To this day, I am left with the conclusion that my playing is interesting in some ways, but not in the ways that are interesting to hiring committees of symphony orchestras. For the longest time, it left me with the feeling of “shoulda, coulda, woulda,” but that ship has sailed, and I realize that my value as a musician can’t be defined by not winning a big audition.
My exit from the Army coincided with the retirement of my mentor Ed Livingston from Illinois State University. I was offered the position and, after 11 years of military service, packed the truck and began my full-time teaching career. I took a pretty bodacious cut in pay to make this move, and kissed away a very active freelancing career back in metro DC and Baltimore. But, for the first time as an adult, I was comfortable in my own skin.
My time teaching at ISU was formative. Ed left me with a thriving studio and there were plenty of really fine players and, more importantly, colorful characters. I learned a lot in my three years there: what to do, what NOT to do, how academia works, and most importantly finding my voice as a teacher. In my third year in Normal, David Randolph, the fine professor from the University of Georgia passed away far too soon, and I applied for the position that became vacant. I knew that Fred Mills, one of my early brass heroes, was teaching there and that the program had new facilities and was on the rise. I applied and, much to my surprise, was offered the position.
I always said that there were just three jobs that could ever pull me away from UGA, and now I teach at one of them. (You’ll have to use your imagination for the other two) It is a thrill to be in Ann Arbor and at the University of Michigan. It is a world-class School of Music housed within a world-class University. The sense of excellence permeates both the campus and the community and I feel that it is a real privilege to work and live in such a stimulating environment. This is where I will retire (many years down the road).
If anyone asks about how I got here, I always tell them that my life and career have been a long string of lucky bounces. As Thomas Jefferson said, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” Over the years, I have been lucky to get “that” phone call to play with some sassy groups, to teach some incredible students, and to experience some great music making. I consider myself a lucky guy to have had the life in music that I’ve enjoyed. I will never take it for granted.