Professor conducts finale
Retiring Gage honored by past, present Dana students
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YOUNGSTOWN -- Past and present Dana School of Music students said goodbye Saturday to Stephen Gage during an outdoor concert at Youngstown State University.
However, Gage -- who is retiring after 28 years as a professor of conducting and director of bands and orchestra at Dana School of Music -- made it clear they haven't seen the last of him.
"I'm going to be back around whether any of you like it or not," Gage told the musicians after he conducted the YSU Wind Ensemble and about 20 alumni members who surprised him on stage for a performance of John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever."
Dana School of Music Director Randall Goldberg said they reached out to alumni about taking part in the concert.
"There's such a respect for Steve Gage, a lot were really happy to come out here and be a part of it," Goldberg said.
"I had no idea; they kept it from me," Gage said about the alumni performers. "It's been a cry day for me ... I started crying when I got out of the car and only quit about five minutes ago."
One of the alumni members who performed Saturday was Bob Antonucci of Struthers.
"I was a college student when Dr. Gage got hired," Antonucci said. "He's been a part of my life and career the entire time he's been in the Valley. He's been so influential in my life and my career, I wanted to pay it forward and show him how much he meant to me."
Antonucci is a band director in Lowellville, and Gage influenced how he works with his own students. Antonucci also plays in the W.D. Packard Concert Band, and while Gage is retiring from YSU, he will remain conductor of the Packard band.
"Anyone who knows him, he's had a profound influence on them," Antonucci said. "This was our opportunity to make a nice moment for him."
Gabriella Sandy of Niles was one of Gage's final students, pursuing her master's degree in conducting.
"It's been a blessing to work with him," she said. "He's one of the kindest souls I've met on my journey. I try to incorporate much of that kindness I've gotten from him in my own teaching (in Youngstown City Schools)."
She described sharing a stage with him on Saturday as bittersweet.
"I almost teared up a little bit up there trying to focus," Sandy said. "I kept glancing up at his face to see what his reaction was."
Gage watched most of the concert from the audience, and he wiped his eyes more than once as YSU Wind Ensemble Director Yukitada Onitsuka, YSU Horn Choir Director Sean Yancer and YSU President Jim Tressel paid tribute to him.
Onitsuka said he quit his own conducting studies, but after reading Gage's detailed notes on the score for Peter Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 finale, "I really wish I could meet you when I was younger, before I give up conducting."
Onitsuka picked several pieces for the concert that Gage had conducted during his tenure at YSU, and he closed his portion of the program with Dmitri Shotakovich's Festive Overture, the opening piece at the first concert Gage conducted at YSU after he was hired in 1993.
Conductors aren't supposed to program an overture near the end of a concert, but Onitsuka said, "I hope this piece will serve as an overture for Dr. Gage's second portion of life."
Gage led the YSU marching band when Tressel was football coach at YSU, and Tressel joked that Gage offered him some advice when he started.
"You just have to keep in mind the role of your football team is simply to give us some rest between the pregame show and the halftime show," Tressel said. "When you understand that, you'll get better."
On a more serious note, Tressel talked about the importance of the arts program at YSU, particularly during the last year with the disruptions caused by COVID-19, and the importance of Gage's contributions.
"What a blessing for all of us to have a person who exudes that gratitude for the opportunities he's had, for the people that make up his life and the people who have been on his team. I know how much he appreciates all of us."