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After two years of interim directors, USF again was without a conductor for the wind ensembles. Richard “Dick” Floyd, Director of Bands at Baylor University, Waco Texas, was contacted by USF about the position. Floyd, an experienced band director, had a substantial reputation in the band community for his successes as a middle school, high school, and collegiate director. Upon learning that the USF job did not consist of marching band, Floyd took a sabbatical from Baylor and accepted the interim position.
Floyd was hired in 1982 as Professor of Conducting. He taught graduate and undergraduate conducting courses and conducted Wind Ensemble 1. Due to constant turnover and a lack of recruitment, the ensembles at USF were uneven in terms of instrumentation and skill set. In Floyd’s role as Professor of Conducting, he was given the time to recruit and stabilize the ensembles. After a short time, Floyd was offered a permanent position at USF and accepted.
Professor Richard Floyd
Professor of Conducting
In 1982, the music department also hired Dr. Christopher Doane as a professor of music education and conductor of Wind Ensemble 2. Doane would continue to conduct Wind Ensemble 2, which would become known as the Symphony Band, until spring 1988 before moving to an administrative role as the Chair of the School of Music.
In Floyd’s second year, the band program was recovering and gaining attention again. Wind Ensemble 1 was invited to perform at the 1984 CBDNA Divisional Conference. During the fall semester of 1983, Floyd was offered a position at University Interscholastic League (UIL) at the University of Texas at Austin starting in January. He accepted and left USF midyear.
Dr. Christopher Doane
Associate Director of Bands
Associate Professor, Director of Music Education
Later: Chair of the School of Music
Stanley DeRusha
USF quickly hired Stanley DeRusha who had formerly worked as a director at Michigan State University. After a short six weeks, USF administration released him from his contract. USF began another search for its DoB.
Professor Jerry Junkin
Director of Bands
By the spring of 1983, Jerry Junkin was an up-and-coming collegiate band director. At the time, he was the Assistant Director of Bands at The University of Michigan while pursuing his doctoral degree with H. Robert Reynolds. During USF’s search process Junkin was contacted about interviewing. He declined due to his summer commitments at UM. At the end of the summer USF contacted him again about the position. This time he accepted.
Within four years of Croft leaving, FSU was taking the state by storm. Students who had attended USF followed him to FSU, showing more loyalty to Croft than the institution. This was partially due to USF’s revolving door of directors. When Junkin assumed the role of Director of Bands in the fall of 1984, the band began touring again to local high schools, but recruitment was still a struggle. Junkin was allowed time to travel and spent many days in high schools across the state to recruit. The bands finally found stability.
In four short years, Junkin accomplished much for the program. Highlights of his tenure include the creation of the master’s degree in band/wind ensemble conducting, multiple composer residencies and concerts, including Husa, Schuller, Severinsen, Kraft, & Benson, the world premiere performance of Maslanka's revised Symphony No. 2, and yearly performances at major conferences including two performances at FMEA and one performance at the CBDNA/NBA Southern Division Conference in New Orleans, LA.
In the spring of 1988, Junkin accepted the Director of Bands position at the University of Texas at Austin where he still is today.
USF hired Dr. Michael Votta as Interim Director of Bands while a national search was completed. Votta, had previously served on the conducting faculty at The University of Miami, Ohio. After the ‘88/’89 academic year, the search committee hired Dr. Mallory Thompson to be the next director.
Dr. Michael Votta
Interim Director of Bands
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