Kappa Kappa Psi - Alpha Chapter

Oklahoma State University

Serving the OSU Bands and Striving for the Highest Since 1919

History Snippets

Snippet #1 - "Boh Makovsky As I Knew Him" by Melbern Nixon, excerpt taken from the November 1968 issue of The Podium.

Steve Nelson:  "This article was taken from the banquet address of the District V Convention of 1968 by then Governor Melbern Nixon, Director of Bands at Kansas State Teachers College.  Brother Nixon later served as National President during the 1975-77 Biennium."

    If my remarks tonight were given a title, it might well be "The Most Unforgettable Character that I have ever known."  The name of Bohumil Makovsky may mean little or nothing to this generation of TBS and KKPsi members, but among Boh's friends and contemporaries were names that might be more familiar to you - Henry Fillmore and John Philip Sousa, remembered for their fine marches - A. A. Harding, for the development of the great University of Illinois Symphonic Band - and A. R. McAlister as director of the famous Joliet, Illinois high school band.

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    Boh was the first honorary member of both KKPsi and TBS.  He was for twenty-five years the Band Director and Head of the Department of Music at Oklahoma State University, then Oklahoma A&M College.  During that time, he never missed a band rehearsal except when he was away representing the college.  I might add here that band rehearsal was five mornings a week at 7:00 a.m. Boh often said, "At this time of day, I only get those who are really interested."  And this was quite true, for there just weren't any absences or late comers in his organizations!

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    Boh's mode of dress never varied - he always wore a dark suit, a large bow tie, rather square in shape, and his vest was always adorned with a gold watch chain, which held a large pocket watch and his masonic emblems. I recall so vividly seeing him in the morning, one minute before 7:00 a.m - he would take his watch from his vest pocket, check the time, snap the watch closed, and then so deliberately, step on the podium, exactly on the hour.  His first words were always, "Good morning," but he didn't expect an answer. It was absolutely unheard of for any clarinetist to still be adjusting a reed or a brass player yet oiling a valve.  Had anyone ever tried, a blast of sound composed of broken English with a sprinkling of Bohemian would have filled his ears, and the student would have been so terrified that he would never have tried it again.

    What made Boh unforgettable was not his unusual dress, his unusual pipe or his rehearsal discipline but the fact that he was a great humanitarian.  He had a most sincere interest in every student who played in his band - for that matter, he was deeply interested in every person he know.  He was acquainted with the problems of each individual music student and in that student's classwork.  He knew the problems the student was having at home, and he sensed and knew when students had financial problems.  He was sincere in his every approach with student and faculty member alike, and he expected the same in return.

    Boh was a real demon on attack in his rehearsal technique - you had better be ready to play in the section at any moment, either by yourself or with the entire group! He felt that a beautiful tone was something sacred, and there was no sympathy at all for anyone who produced a tone that was a bit pinched, fuzzy or out of tune.

    Many of the members of the old A&M band played for four and five years without every being absent or tardy, and there were several occasions when a student would go to great lengths to keep his record clear.  I remember when the assistant director dropped into his chair just as Boh was taking his step to the podium.  The band really broke up when it noticed that 2 inches of his pajamas were sticking out from under his pants and that he still had on his house slippers.

    Boh was always unpredictable when the Symphonic Band was playing a concert. On one such occasion, when the band was on tour, he pointedly introduced to the audience a band member who was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible because he had forgotten to bring his clarinet.  Another time, he stopped an entire massed group of 50 bands during a halftime performance because the bass drums were not together.

    I have a pleasant remembrance of Boh's thoughtfulness - during mail call one bleak day in the middle of WWII, I was surprised to receive a package containing a phonograph record.  Recorded on it was a Christmas greeting from Boh and a performance of a march that I had written the year before.

    Boh was listed in Who's Who Among American Musicians and he was awarded a place of honor in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.  But the most significant recognition for his life and of the leadership that he gave to young college people is reflected in the dedication to bands and good music of the many members of KKPsi and TBS on the campuses of our colleges and universities throughout the United States.

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