ArtsLIVE in Ventura County

Op-Ed / Essay Submitted by Bill Benson

Art … liberates

Back in 1967, I was a seventh-grader at a junior high, just outside Indianapolis. Although I was a relatively good kid and decent student, I was by no means a candidate for the dean’s list. 

All students were required to spend 25 minutes in homeroom each day. Most of the time, there was little to do except find ways to get in trouble and aggravate the teacher. This particular homeroom teacher did not like me very much, and the feeling was mutual. 

One day, the orchestra teacher came to homeroom seeking volunteers to play in the school orchestra.

“When does the orchestra meet?” I asked immediately.
 “During homeroom,” she replied.

I could not say yes quickly enough, and she told me to follow her.

“What instrument I would be playing? I asked her as we strolled down the hallway.
“We need a string bass player,” she replied.

I was not sure what that was but, I knew it was not the violin. A violin surely meant I would be taunted by my classmates.

When we arrived at the rehearsal room, she pointed to the string bass. I thought to myself that it was a cool instrument – although I may still get the ribbing from my friends, at least it is manlier than the violin. 

I was not a big kid and had to stand on a wooden Coca-Cola box to play it. Of course, the school newspaper ran an article on the orchestra and singled me out as the kid who had to stand on that crate. How embarrassing was that?  In any event, I continued to play in orchestras through high school and college and became very proficient. 

As I look back, I realize music saved me. Almost all my friends from those days married and had children very young. Many never finished high school. Had it not been for music, I probably would have had the same outcome.

I was driven to go to college so that I could teach music. It was difficult, as I had three brothers and three sisters. My parents did not have the finances to send any of us to college. By working at factories in the summers and with student loans, I managed to complete my degree and was fortunate enough to get a job teaching in the Indiana public schools the fall after graduation. I later moved to a Detroit suburb and taught public school orchestra and was a part-time youth orchestra director.

In 1982, I relocated to Los Angeles for many reasons. One of the biggest was to get out of that nasty cold weather and pursue my dream in the surf and the sun.

Today, I find myself in the most wonderful career anyone could ever want: youth orchestra director. When I was appointed to this position with the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestras in 1999, I knew my dream would be fulfilled. Finally, after all of these years of doing many things I never wanted to do just to survive, I now had the opportunity to give back that which saved me and made my life meaningful.

I am blessed with the love of music and will continue to pass that blessing on to as many kids as I can for the rest of my life.

– Bill Benson is artistic director/conductor of the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestra. He is a member of the applied music faculty at Moorpark College and winner of the Encore Statue Award representing Excellence in the Arts from the Thousand Oaks Arts Commission.

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