{"id":233722,"date":"2026-04-03T16:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/233722\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T16:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:50:14","slug":"texas-tech-music-professor-celebrates-60-years-of-service-april-2026-texas-tech-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/233722\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech Music Professor Celebrates 60 Years of Service | April 2026 | Texas Tech Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Richard Meek, the opportunity to be a part of the university community for so
\n long has always been a direct result of the people.<\/p>\n

\t\tCREATORS<\/p>\n

\"Portrait
\n\"Portrait<\/p>\n

It was people as much as music that brought Richard Meek<\/a> to Texas Tech University<\/a> just over 60 years ago, and both have kept him here throughout those six decades.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech legend Gene Hemmle and longtime faculty member Robert Deahl<\/a> were the primary reasons Richard gravitated to West Texas shortly after completing
\n his master\u2019s degree work at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew from a young age that I wanted to be involved in music,\u201d Richard said. \u201cI
\n grew up in a family of six kids, and we were all required to play an instrument. It
\n seemed logical to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

More like inevitable.<\/p>\n

There were musical influences all around him. His mother was an accomplished band
\n director and cornet player, his father a violinist, composer and conductor. One grandfather
\n was a physician whose hobby was crafting violins, and he made an instrument for each
\n family member.<\/p>\n

No wonder Richard grew up performing on the bassoon, violin and viola.<\/p>\n

Richard earned his bachelor\u2019s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Then,
\n once he finished his master\u2019s, Richard had plenty of options, including opportunities
\n to play with the U.S. Marine Corps Band or the Dallas Symphony, but he chose the chance
\n to teach.<\/p>\n

Hemmle, who chaired the Music Department<\/a> in what is now part of the J.T. & Margaret Talkington School of Visual & Performing Arts<\/a> from 1949-73, invited Richard to join the small cadre of faculty members in 1965.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long after that when he connected with Deahl, who had two stints with Texas
\n Tech, culminating as professor of trombone from 1966-94 and who also had earned two
\n degrees from Oberlin. In fact, the two men originally met when Richard was studying
\n at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.<\/p>\n

Richard was sold on Texas Tech\u2019s commitment to him as a faculty member, and he\u2019s never
\n looked back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Somehow, 61 years have rocketed past during the interim. In addition to his teaching
\n responsibilities, he has played with all symphonies across west Texas and northern
\n New Mexico, including more than 40 years as principal bassoonist with the Lubbock
\n Symphony Orchestra (1970-2014).<\/p>\n

\"Richard<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, one of the things I love about music is you are working with people who,
\n by nature and decision, are cooperating,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re making music together.
\n You listen, and you help each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard has enjoyed teaching and performing. He is a professor of bassoon and music
\n theory. He regularly travels to New Mexico to play with the Roswell Symphony Orchestra,
\n of which he has been a member since 1968.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never wanted to play the game as far as going to another university or something
\n like that,\u201d he said. \u201cI had an opportunity once to leave, but ultimately, I decided
\n to stay here, and later the provost wrote me a letter that said, \u2018You made a wise
\n decision.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas Tech has long felt like home to Richard, partly because of the way he has been
\n treated by the university, partly because of colleagues and partly because of the
\n students with whom he interacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cTexas Tech has been so agreeable,\u201d he said. \u201cThe (students) are great, and there
\n is an amazing family feel here.\u201d<\/p>\n

After accepting the job, Richard remembers attending his first faculty meeting, where
\n he looked around and saw about a dozen people. The number has increased over the years
\n to more than 70 at his most recent faculty meeting.<\/p>\n

\"Richard<\/p>\n

Richard still teaches several classes each semester, including a double reeds course
\n and counterpoint one on Renaissance vocal style and one on Baroque style. His classes
\n challenge students to think critically and emerge as more accomplished musicians with
\n a deeper appreciation for the craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have several really lovely kids right now,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of them is working on
\n her doctorate, and she is scheduled to graduate in May 2027, so in my mind, I\u2019d like
\n to stick around another year to help her finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

He remains grateful to Texas Tech for the opportunity it provided and the continuing
\n doors it opened for him while his teaching and musicianship reputation steadily grew.
\n Richard has consistently given back to Texas Tech, serving as president of the Faculty
\n Senate for two years, and the Lubbock community.<\/p>\n

He helped found the International Double Reed Society, which meets every summer. He
\n was also host for the 1981 meeting at Texas Tech and for the inaugural International
\n Gillet Double Reed Competition that continues to this day. He has served 60 years
\n as an adjudicator\/clinician for the Texas Music Educators Association.<\/p>\n

For several years, Richard also organized the new music symposium, inviting contemporary
\n composers like Lukas Foss to rehearse and conduct his works in performance with the
\n orchestra, band and choir. When the founding conductor of the Youth Orchestra retired,
\n Richard stepped in to continue the organization and ensure young people had an opportunity
\n to perform and learn orchestral repertoire.<\/p>\n

\u201cTexas Tech put me in a position where I could stay active with my community,\u201d he
\n said. \u201cI got the chance to attend a number of conferences through the years and travel
\n around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Richard Meek, the opportunity to be a part of the university community for so long has always…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-233722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}