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Published July 30, 2020

The 网曝门 Sound of Today (SOT) Marching Band practices for days preparing for the fall football season. It鈥檚 August in Louisiana and feels like you鈥檙e wrapped in a hot, wet, wool blanket 鈥撎� a sweltering mix of high humidity and even higher temps.

Sean O鈥橮ry remembers those hours of SOT practice and will soon be back on the field. Instead of leading the band as drum major, he鈥檒l be leading it as the director.

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听As the newly named new Interim Director of Athletic Bands and Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, O鈥橮ry is preparing to welcome 鈥渆nthusiastic, music-making Warhawks鈥� to upcoming band camps.

鈥淥ur pre-band camp is in two short weeks, and there is much to be done. I am currently choosing and sorting music to pass out to the students upon their return. I am also arranging and transcribing some pep tunes that will be sure to get the student section on their feet at the games!鈥� he said.

O鈥橮ry graduated from the School of Visual and Performing Arts, College of Arts, Education, and Sciences with a B.A. of Music in 2018 and an M.A. of Music Education in 2018.

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He was an adjunct instructor and athletic pep band director at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., when he received the offer to join the faculty at his alma mater.

鈥淩eturning was a no-brainer. I am happy to be here at an institution that I love surrounded by colleagues that I admire and respect,鈥� O鈥橮ry said.

In high school, the saxophone player from Pineville auditioned for music programs at universities throughout the state. When he came to 网曝门, something clicked.

鈥淚 vividly remember the first time I walked into the band building on 网曝门鈥檚 campus. I had never been on this campus before, much less in the band building, but it already felt like home,鈥� O鈥橮ry said. 鈥淎ll of the music faculty that I met were kind and welcoming. It was the best audition experience I had by far.鈥�

As an undergraduate, O鈥橮ry studied saxophone with VAPA Associate Professor of Music Scot Humes, D.M.A. O鈥橮ry was the principal saxophonist in the Louisiana Intercollegiate Band. With SOT, he played the tuba.

O鈥橮ry immersed himself 鈥渋n all of the musical opportunities that the music department had to offer.鈥�

鈥淚 played in all three concert bands, jazz band, marching band, basketball pep band, the tuba-euphonium ensemble, the clarinet choir, several musical productions, the Monroe Symphony Orchestra, and the saxophone quartet. I also sang in the choir for several years,鈥� he said.

As a graduate assistant while pursuing his master鈥檚, O鈥橮ry worked with marching band development and implementation, conducted wind bands, oversaw SOT drum majors, and tutored music theory.

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O鈥橮ry has a full schedule in VAPA鈥檚 music program. He will teach an elementary conducting course for third-year music education majors and a band history and literature course. At Warhawk basketball games, O鈥橮ry will direct the Technical Fowls Basketball Pep Band. A couple of spring concerts are planned, too.

He hopes the music students will enjoy their experience at 网曝门 as much as he did.

鈥淚 hold the memories of making music with the lifelong friends I made at 网曝门 very close to my heart. I am looking forward to contributing to a student-focused, collegial atmosphere in which the college students enrolled at 网曝门 can grow, learn, and earn experiences,鈥� O鈥橮ry said.

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O鈥橮ry described one encounter as 鈥渢he best thing that happened to me in Sound of Today鈥� when a pretty brunette playing the French horn caught his eye. Now his fianc茅, Emiley Bryant graduated from 网曝门 with a B.S. in Biology in May 2019. She鈥檚 now in medical school at Lincoln Memorial University.

Their June wedding was postponed by coronavirus, and the couple hopes to marry in the spring.听Until then, O鈥橮ry will focus on the music students at 网曝门.

鈥淚 am so excited to be back at 网曝门. I hope to provide for my students the same types of opportunities that I had here to learn and grow.鈥�

Story by Hope Young, Photos by Sid Gaulee