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The Lifetime Achievement Award recipient has prevailed through obstacles both daunting (having no instrument) and tedious (hand zip-code sorting the first mailings of this magazine). His persistence has paid off with a lifelong career as an exemplary performer, respected businessman, and beloved teacher.
"At an early stage he showed himself to be a first-rate musician with the ability to demonstrate this when it counted-in auditions and performances"
-Robert Willoughby
Ervin Monroe has always come through when it mattered most: first as a musician with a stunning 40-year career as principal flutist of the Detroit Symphony, then as a leader of the NFA, a teacher, and a businessman "whose success comes from his generous, big-hearted spirit" according to colleague Paul Rabinov.
From the start, Monroe had a love for music and a determination to put it into practice. When he was 6, his father, a chaplain in the Air Force, was transferred to Northwest Florida. The music teacher in Monroe's new school tested each student's aptitude, then advised his mother to encourage him to study music.
"Years earlier, my mother had bought six used instruments from the military surplus, one for each child" said Monroe. "By the time I was in the fifth grade and could play in the Niceville Elementary band, there was only a piccolo left in the box. I became very frustrated because the ancient piccolo didn't play" The band director said it was beyond repair, so his mother bought him a new instrument.
"I loved to play in our little 11-piece elementary school band, and I couldn't wait to play my first Christmas concert" Monroe said. "I even memorized all the music. Before our final rehearsal, I decided to make sure my flute was playing perfectly, so I tightened every screw on the instrument-including the adjustment screws!"
The flute no longer functioned. "I was beyond upset and knew I had done something terribly wrong. The band conductor said he'd try to borrow a flute for me from the high school band. I still remember standing in front of the schoolhouse before the concert, praying to the Almighty to please bring me an instrument so I could play. I made every promise one could make. When the band director pulled up in...