Christy Banks (B.M. 1996;
D.M.A. 2005), assistant chair and associate professor of music
and coordinator of woodwinds at Millersville University of
Pennsylvania, is this year’s Masters Week candidate from the
Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.
“I am thrilled,” Banks said. “This is such an honor.”
Alumni Masters Week is a program sponsored by the Nebraska
Alumni Association, the Student Alumni Association and the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Chancellor’s Office. Each fall,
outstanding alumni return to campus to share their experiences
and knowledge with students. Since 1964, 390 alumni have
participated in Alumni Masters Week.
Professor of Clarinet Diane Barger nominated Banks for the
honor.
“When I first arrived at UNL back in the fall of 1994, Christy
was one of the upperclassmen clarinet majors in my studio,”
Barger said. “From the very start, she proved herself to be a
fine musician who had an inner drive of someone far beyond her
years. I was so fortunate to have her as my first DMA student
several years later as she set such a wonderful example to my
younger students and breezed through her degree program, all
while holding numerous adjunct teaching positions in the area at
the same time. I have greatly enjoyed seeing all the success she
has achieved, and I am so proud of her. In addition to being a
wonderful pedagogue and consummate musician, she is also a
delightful human being. How fortunate am I to have had the honor
of mentoring her in the earlier stages of her education and
career and to have her as a friend and colleague now in the
profession.”
This year’s activities take place between Nov. 1-4. Banks is
looking forward to a busy schedule when she is back on campus.
“I’m looking forward to all of it,” she said. “I’m excited to
work with Dr. Barger’s students, because she is such a master
teacher. I’m super excited to speak to the undergrads and
master’s students at convocation, and I think it’s neat that I
get to pop into my daughter’s music history class with Dr.
Starr, whom I admire so much. Also I look forward to meeting the
new Director of the School of Music.”
Banks has been at Millersville University (MU) since 2005.
“I defended by my doctoral document the day after I flew back
from my interview at MU, so I got to walk into that defense with
the good news that I had a tenure-track job upon graduation,”
Banks said.
Banks has previously taught clarinet, saxophone and related
music courses at Nebraska Wesleyan University, Concordia
University, Doane College, Union College and Peru State College.
She has performed as a soloist and/or chamber musician
throughout the U.S., as well as Austria, Germany, Italy, Norway,
Iceland, China and New Zealand. A former member of Lincoln’s
Symphony Orchestra and the Nebraska Chamber Players, she has
performed with the Pennsylvania Philharmonic, the Harrisburg,
Lancaster and Reading Symphonies, Pennsylvania Sinfonia, Allegro
Chamber Orchestra and Opera Lancaster.
She has two CD recordings of new compositions in the works:
NakedEye Ensemble’s “Storylines Crossing” will be released in
2018 and Spatial Forces Duo will release a CD and video
recording in 2019.
Banks’s studio at MU has grown during her tenure there.
“When I first started at MU, I
taught a combined clarinet and saxophone studio,” Banks said.
“Over the years, the size of my studio more than doubled to
around 30 students. Thus, last academic year, we were able to
hire a saxophone professor, so now I get to focus on the
clarinet studio. I currently have 13 majors. I also teach
woodwind methods and our first-year music major seminar.”
In 2007, she became the assistant chair of the music department.
“My main responsibility in that capacity is to coordinate
recruitment activities, administer all of the auditions and work
with our admissions and development people to dole out
scholarships,” she said. “When I began, the department consisted
of around 130 music majors. Now we have around 250. Currently we
only have undergraduate programs in music education, music
performance and our music business technology degree, although
we hope to approve a master’s in music education in the near
future.”
Originally from Lincoln, Banks chose Nebraska for her
undergraduate study because of its strong band program.
“There were a lot of factors in my choice of UNL for my
undergraduate degree,” she said. “Perhaps the biggest ones were
the strong band program—I was a real band geek in high schoo—and
that my mother had gotten her undergraduate music degree in
piano there. She was pretty insistent that I attend UNL.”
She returned to Nebraska for her doctoral studies primarily to
study with Barger.
“The absolute biggest reason was to study with Dr. Barger. She’s
really incredible,” Banks said. “Other reasons were the support
I got from the woodwind faculty and the administration to allow
me to create a secondary area (like a minor at the doctoral
level) in multiple woodwinds. And I was already teaching at
several schools in the area, maintaining a sizeable private
studio, and actively gigging in the area. I knew what I wanted
next vis-à-vis my career trajectory, and UNL was the perfect
next step.”
During her time at Nebraska, Banks played in the Cornhusker
Marching Band all four years of her undergraduate study.
“I had the absolute privilege of being a drum major for our
back-to-back National Championship Football seasons (’94, ’95),”
Banks said. “Incredible experiences! The CMB also marched in the
St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin my last year. That experience
sparked my insatiable wanderlust, and I’ll forever be thankful
for it.”
Banks said Barger has been the single most influential person in
her professional life.
“She came to UNL halfway
through my undergrad,” Banks said. “At the time, there were ZERO
female professors in the woodwinds/brass/percussion/bands area.
I think there may have only been five, maybe six full-time
female professors in the entire School of Music. She instantly
became my role model. She is truly a trailblazer. I’m not
exaggerating when I say she is one of the best clarinetists on
the planet, and UNL is beyond fortunate to have her.”
Banks began her musical career at age four with piano lessons
and started playing the saxophone in 7th grade. But her
stepfather pushed her toward the clarinet.
“My stepfather was a band director in the Lincoln Public
Schools,” she said. “I remember telling him in elementary school
that I wanted to play either the cello or the trombone. He nixed
that and said, ‘I have two clarinets. You’re playing the
clarinet.’”
Banks said she likes the versatility of the clarinet.
“I get bored easily, so I love how versatile the clarinet is,”
Banks said. “I can play so many styles of music with so many
different people. And then there are other instruments in the
clarinet family (I own six clarinets), so I’m never bored.
Frustrated at times, but not bored.”
Nebraska was a perfect fit for her for both of her degrees.
“During my undergrad, it was the perfect training ground for me
as a performer because throughout my time here I got to
participate in every single ensemble that I wanted,” Banks said.
“I didn’t realize until I was in my master’s degree at FSU just
how solid and thorough my training had been in theory and
history.
“In my DMA, UNL provided academic and performance rigor that
gave me an edge in the job search. The faculty and
administration also allowed me to propose my own secondary
curriculum in multiple woodwinds, which was crucial for the type
of job I was seeking. I’m convinced that these academic
credentials were critical in getting me to the final interview
stage at four universities during my job search, which gave me
leverage when ‘sealing the deal’ at my top choice, Millersville
University.”
Her daughter is currently a music student, so Banks is now part
of three generations at Nebraska.
“My mom is a professional accompanist who did her undergrad at
UNL in the 1960s,” Banks said. “She and both of my kids have
perfect pitch, but not me. My daughter is currently an undergrad
music major at UNL, so that’s three generations of women in
Westbrook Music Building.”
Banks’s lasting memory of Nebraska is the life-long
relationships she formed.
“So many of the people who helped shape me during those
formative years are still in my life,” she said.