PEORIA MAGAZINE July 2023

for the high school program. There were close to 80 students in the band program when he became director, “but that was not 80 kids who could play,” he said. Graves’ overhaul of the band program included changing grading practices. “If you got an ‘A’ in band, the ‘A’ ought to reflect and show that you know something, not just the fact that you were loyal and came to all of the performances,” he stressed. “You are supposed to come to the performances just like you are supposed to go to work.” Students were required to learn how to read music, play 15 scales instead of one, perform the Star-Spangled Banner and the school song, and learn music literature from beginning levels to advanced. He believed strongly that students should be able to read music rather than just play by ear. It was important to erase stereotypes or misperceptions people may have had about Manual High School only being known for athletic achievements, Graves insisted. “When it came to the music end of it, I made it my business to make sure that nobody ever looked down on Manual and said that they couldn’t play,” Graves recalled. “You mention high school band and people think more about the public performances at basketball or football games. There’s more to band than learning songs for game performances.” Establishing fundamental structure did not come quickly or easily at Manual, especially during those first few years. Graves said he was not taken seriously by all of the students. “When the bell rings, it’s time for class to start. You never would have thought that because they were talking clear across the room. You thought you were looking at a Hollywood movie,” he said. “I picked up a music stand and threw it across the floor. Then they all shut up.” TOUGH LOVE The changes and growing pains cost Graves some band students during those formative years. “One of the trombone players got mad and said, ‘I think this is just a bunch of

George Graves, second from right, his wife, friends and fans gather in February 2023 at the street renaming ceremony in his honor outside Manual Academy

Sousa during a game performance. He said Graves was a stickler for details, especially when it involved uniforms. “The main thing was, you had to have black socks,” he recalled. “If you happened to forget your socks, there was the infamous box of old left-over socks that you had to pick from.” Some of Graves’ students followed in his footsteps, either into musical careers or teaching. Tim Kelley would go on to help write and produce the R&B hit the Thong Song , which was recorded by Sisqo of Dru Hill. Amy Nash Jones teaches music in Illinois Valley Central schools. “He had a passion for all types of music and exposed us to different types – marching, Broadway, jazz and classical,” she said. “He challenged students to do their best in everything.” WINNING OVER THE COMMUNITY “We marched the South Side of Peoria during first period up and down Ligonier and Proctor Streets,” said Glover, who remembered rankling some nearby residents who wanted quiet that early in

(blankety, blank). I quit,” he recalled, laughing. “It wasn’t so bad when he got up and walked out, but he took three other trombone players with him.” Retired Manual English teacher Sharon Crews said Graves took over the band program during a tough transition period. “As a faculty member at the time, I remember the disappointment we all felt, realizing that the end of an era had come and that Manual’s band had become an embarrassment to the school,” she said. Graves set out to turn that around, establishing rules that made it abundantly clear that he was serious about his craft. Reuben Cummings, now a software developer in Peoria, described his former teacher as tough and serious but fair. “He didn’t take any crap,” said Cummings. “It wasn’t a class where you just played around. He brought his perspective to the kind of music we played. It wasn’t like we played random selections.” Cummings played clarinet at Manual in the late 1990s. He remembered performing a song by legendary composer and bandleader John Philip

JULY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 83