Town North Concert Band
Dallas, Texas
Bill Coburn
Trumpet
Richardson, Texas
Music History:
I began rudimentary music studies with my father upon entering the first grade in a small farm community
in northwestern Indiana where Dad taught all the music and commerce (business) classes. I began taking
cornet lessons from him when I entered the fifth grade and began playing with the grade school band when
Dad was high school band director in Martinsville, Indiana. Upon entering the seventh grade, he handed
me off to Bill Adam, the renowned trumpet professor at Indiana University. We moved to New Mexico at the
end of that year, but I transferred back to I. U. my sophomore year of college to resume study with Mr. Adam
before switching to a voice/opera major at the beginning of my junior year.
I conducted, played or sang with church choirs, community bands, pit orchestras, opera choruses and
university/civic symphonies before pursuing graduate studies in musical theater at Texas Woman's
University. I worked as an actor, singer, musician and model in opera, musical theater (summer stock),
regional theater, Shakespeare festivals and community and university theaters in residence and on tour
and performed on camera in theatrical and television motion pictures, student and industrial films and
on a community access television series before leaving the metroplex to enter graduate seminary in 1995.
We moved to Richardson at the beginning of April after living in northern New England for a couple of
years during which I had the good fortune to perform with fourteen instrumental and two vocal ensembles,
conduct a community band and play Taps at graveside services for veterans as a volunteer with Bugles Across
America while serving a small, rural church. I began rehearsing with the Richardson Community Band immediately
after moving back to the metroplex and accepted Frank Bray's invitation to join Town North Concert Band.
I recently accepted an invitation to teach Music and Bugling Merit Badge classes at the National Scouting
Museum in Irving beginning this fall of 2011.
