In Memoriam

Larry Vanlandingham
August 18, 1937 - September 11, 2004
By James Lambert

Former PAS President and Baylor University Professor Emeritus Larry Vanlandingham died in Waco, Texas, on Sept. 11 at age 67. 'The percussion world has lost a great teacher, a great performer, a great leader and, most of all, a great friend,'said current PAS President Mark Ford. 'We'll miss him dearly.'

Larry Dean Vanlandingham was born in Mexico, Missouri, on August 18, 1937. After his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, during his childhood, Larry learned to play percussion. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in music education from Arizona State University in 1960 (studying percussion with Mervin Brittain), a Master of Music degree from Baylor University in music theory and music literature in 1963, and a PhD from Florida State University in music theory in 1971. His dissertation, 'The Percussion Ensemble: 1930'1945,'still serves as a historical reference to such topics as Varese's use of percussion prior to 'Ionisation'as well as a thorough analysis of 'Ionisation,'the percussion compositions of Lou Harrison, and John Cage's percussion ensembles between 1939 and 1943.

Larry performed as a percussionist throughout the United States and in Europe, including being a charter member and serving as timpanist of the Waco Symphony Orchestra. Previously, Larry served as percussionist in the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and as timpanist in the Phoenix Opera Orchestra.

Larry was President of the Percussive Arts Society from 1982'1984. He also served as First Vice-President from 1978'81 and as Second Vice-President from 1974'77. His first of many terms on the PAS Board of Directors began in 1973. 'Larry Vanlandingham was the kind of leader whose vision helped propel the Percussive Arts Society to its present position of prominence,'says former PAS President John Beck, who served as First Vice- President during the time that Vanlandingham was President.

Vanlandingham taught at Baylor University for 41 years. His duties included serving as Assistant Marching Band Director under Donald I. Moore and teaching private percussion, percussion ensemble, percussion methods and music theory. He was also head of the Instrumental Division of the Baylor University School of Music for two decades, and was the instigator, innovator and facilitator in developing the use of computers in the School of Music and all across Baylor University. In 1992 he was named one of three outstanding professors at Baylor University.

At Baylor, Vanlandingham was responsible for the commissioning of several compositions, including Karel Husa's 'Concerto for Percussion and Wind Ensemble'(with William F. Ludwig, Jr.), Richard Willis's 'Colloquy III,'Fisher Tull's 'Colloquy,'William Kraft's 'Encounter IX'and Verne Reynolds''Concertare V for Saxophone and Percussion.'Larry performed many of these compositions with Dr. Richard Shanley, professor of clarinet and saxophone at Baylor University.

In 2003, Vanlandingham announced his retirement from Baylor University. 'Dr. V,'as he is known affectionately by his students, was the first Professor of Percussion at Baylor University, and he served in that position in an exemplary manner. To honor Vanlandingham's retirement, the alumni of his percussion studio presented a percussion recital on August 16, 2003, in Meadows Recital Hall on the Baylor campus. Later that evening, Dr. V was honored with a dinner with many, many memories flooding forth in tribute to him.

Tributes from across the world reflect Vanlandingham's teaching excellence. 'Upon hearing the news of Dr. Vanlandingham's passing, I am now in indescribably deep sorrow,'said Keiko Abe in a note to Baylor alumnus Brian Zator. 'I was quite amazed at the high quality of music of the Instrumental Division of Baylor University when I was invited to Baylor University by Dr. Vanlandingham for the first time 25 years ago. Percussion music from all over the world was collected, and compositions of Japanese percussion, which were unknown widely at that time, were also on their list. I was tremendously impressed by Dr. Vanlandingham’s high ideals of percussion music and his spirit of inquiry. We are all faced with the huge gap that his death has left us with. But his accomplishments will remain in the hearts of the percussionists in the world and pass on to the next generation. May this great soul of the percussion world rest in peace.'

Larry was always a man of few words. His actions as a professor far outweighed anything he said in class. Vanlandingham stood for excellence in music study and performance. As a part of his eulogy, this writer (a Baylor University percussion alumnus of 1973) quoted the following New Testament passage from 1st Thessalonians: 'We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ…And so you became a model to all the believers.'Dr. V. was that kind of role model for each of his students.

The primary piece of advice Vanlandingham gave many percussion students at Baylor was to 'bloom where you're planted.'In other words, make the most of whatever college job or high school teaching position you're able to audition for successfully. You can see the evidence of this today. Many of his students are successfully teaching percussion throughout the United States. Although Larry's students only spent four years with him while they were undergraduates at Baylor University, the values and integrity he instilled in them and lived out before them taught them how to manage their lives far beyond those four years.

Vanlandingham's influence on percussion pedagogy and performance will last long beyond his time on earth. The wisdom and pleasurable moments Larry shared with students will always be lasting memories. Who can forget his joking with students about their idiosyncrasies? It was always apparent that every student in the School of Music respected what Larry stood for musically, and he challenged each student at their point of need. Larry knew the subject matter and shared that knowledge with his students. His teaching style showed acceptance, approval and appreciation. Dr. V made the intellectual and musical challenges in learning our subject matter easier because of the positive atmosphere through which he permitted creative freedom, joy, and the feeling of curiosity that he fostered in his educational environment. Friends, family and students will continue to appreciate who Larry Vanlandingham was--not only as a superb percussion performer, but as a great person, a great friend, and a true 'gentle-man.'

We honor Larry Vanlandingham for being a teacher for life. We recognize Larry'ed. We thank God for Larry Vanlandingham, and we express our love and sincere sympathies to his wife, Mary Zandi, his children, Derek and Lara, and to all of his extended family, friends and students. Memorial tributes may be made to the Percussive Arts Society and to the Congestive Heart Failure Clinic at Providence Hospital of Waco.

On the day before Vanlandingham's death, the Percussive Arts Society voted to honor him with the PAS Lifetime Achievement in Education Award, which will be presented at PASIC 2004 in Nashville this November.