Alumni percussionists proved Sunday that their skills in conducting covert operations are just as good as their rhythm.
The alumni honored Erwin Mueller, a professor at the Ball State University School of Music, with a surprise concert Sunday at the Alumni Center. The concert in Mueller's honor was also held to honor Richard D. Paul, a colleague of Mueller who was a professor of percussion at Ball State and Indiana State universities. Paul died on March 27, 2003, from cancer, when he was 70 years old.
The concert was organized and performed by percussionists who had studied under Mueller. The percussionists created their plan with Mueller's wife, Barbara Mueller, through a series of e-mails.
"I'm sure its been hard for Mrs. Mueller and students that knew about it," Susan Martin Tariq, a 1979 School of Music graduate who was instrumental in the plan's orchestration, said. "But Dr. Mueller is so busy with his music, he wouldn't have gotten on the Internet or seen anything about it."
Daniel McCloud, doctoral assistant in the School of Music, said that for as difficult as it was to organize the event, choosing selections for the concert was also taxing.
"You have the planning, getting the facilities and keeping it secret," McCloud said. "And we had to go through years of programming to see what he performed frequently and what he liked."
The pieces ranged from Antonin Dvorak's "Carnival Overture" to "The Stars and Stripes Forever" and two pieces written by students who had worked under Mueller.
"I was on the way up here, and I was thinking it had probably been 25 years since I had played for Dr. Mueller," 1988 graduate Greg Wolff said. "I thought it would be an honor to break off the rust and play 'Mueller's Mazurka.'"
During the event, Mueller and Paul's family accepted a citation from the Percussive Arts Society for a lifetime of dedication and extraordinary accomplishment in percussion performance and education.
"I am humbled," Mueller said during a break in the performance. "I am the most fortunate person in the world ... Words cannot convey my feelings for all of you. This is the capstone of my career.
"In this business, you never know where a person is going to go. I never thought I'd be here."
Mueller was lured into the surprise event under the impression that he was taking his wife to a function for the Sigma Alpha Iota women's honorary music society.
Mueller joined Ball State's faculty as a part-time instructor in 1958 and became a full-time instructor in 1970. He served as the university's College of Fine Arts Sursa Distinguished Professor from 1995 until 2000.
Mueller was also honored with the Orpheus Award by the Ball State Delta Lambda chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and he was named Outstanding Administrator of the Year by the Indiana Music Educators Association.
He has worked with the Mid-America Summer Music clinics and served as president and secretary, treasurer of the Indiana Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society.
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