There’s going to be a party in Dallas this Saturday night—one of those festivities where a person’s life achievements are toasted and honored. It pains me not to be present, but no way exists for me to fly from an afternoon talk in Cincinnati to the DFW metroplex in time for dinner. Instead, I will give myself over to imagining the array of musicians, friends, and donors who will celebrate the 35-year tenure of Kim Campbell as co-founder and director of my favorite musical ensemble: The Dallas Winds.

You are not likely to know The Dallas Winds unless you are involved with high-school, college, or military bands. Suffice it to say that they are acknowledged as the best civilian wind ensemble in the USA and arguably far beyond. That’s one of the reasons I want to tell you about them.

First, my official connection with Dallas Winds falls under the rubric of “Wind Notes with Professor Carol,” wherein I continue to serve as their pre-concert lecturer, despite living now in North Carolina. The real connection, though, goes back to my first days of teaching at SMU when I first literally bumped into the quiet, masterful Howard Dunn, a legendary wind-ensemble conductor and clinician whose name still evokes hushes of admiration. Dunn guessed that I was the new music-history professor (probably due to my deer-in-the-headlights look). He welcomed me and, with touching sincerity, offered any assistance I might need.

In founding The Dallas Winds, Dunn acquiesced to an idea, promoted first (if I’m not mistaken) by then graduate-student and trombonist Kim Campbell, namely that, together, they create an informal “reading band” where some of the uber-talented wind players and percussionists in the area could come together to play interesting repertoire! Many were veterans of the top college and US military bands, now devoting their efforts, hearts, and souls to working as high-school band directors or public-school music teachers. A reading band filled with top-notch colleagues would give them an opportunity to return to what they loved: playing both classic and cutting-edged new compositions for wind band.

The timing was perfect, and here’s why. The world of “academic modern music” was starting to crumble. Composers who, from their ivory towers, had besieged concert-goers with gratuitously difficult, dissonant, and largely unapproachable pieces were losing power. Audiences had voted with their feet (few things say “turn the page” more than empty seats). Grants supporting composers, copious in the 1960s and 70s, were drying up too.

Meanwhile, a new generation of composers was rising. They wanted to draw audiences back to the concert hall. Gratifyingly, they believed that the staple elements of Western music had not lost their efficacy. Long-absent beauty could be reborn in new ways. Lyrical melody could be renewed to speak to younger ears. Rhythmic innovation and vivid harmony could be written so as to electrify, rather than horrify, their hearers. Instruments could shine in new glory not by distorting their qualities, but by enhancing them, especially in the case of that most marvelous of sections: the percussion. Furthermore, traditional musical forms like symphonies and concertos still had much to say. Most importantly, much of this music was being written or arranged for wind ensemble.

And so, a new era was unfolding right as The Dallas Winds took wing. Under a stylistic mantel called “Neo-Romanticism,” works by composers like John Corigliano, David Maslanka, and Frank Ticheli filled the air. A second generation of younger artists followed, bringing us magical music by composers like John Mackey, Erik Whitacre, Viet Cuong, and Omar Thomas. All told, witnessing this phenomenon from both backstage and the front row has brought me some of the most exciting musical moments of my life.

But, I would have remained outside all of it if Kim had not stopped me in the hall one day about twenty-five years ago and said, “Say, I know you do a lot of lectures for The Dallas Symphony, The Dallas Opera. How would you feel about coming to do some lectures for us?” You see, Kim had found himself the principal shepherd of The Dallas Winds upon Howard Dunn’s untimely death in 1991. The loss of this man was devastating. Yet, step by step, concert by concert, recording by recording, the reputation of The Dallas Winds was spreading. By the time I came aboard, the ensemble occupied center stage in the lively international arena of wind music, performing, as well as commissioning, some of the most amazing compositions you can imagine.

Kim had the good fortune to obtain Maestro Jerry Junkin as the conductor. Junkin took up Dunn’s mantle and, to this day leads the ensemble with a joy and vigor that is impossible to describe. I’ll tell you simply this: it’s hard for a conductor not to annoy, or bore, his or her players. Expanding upon that would take a longer essay. But to rehearse and perform under Jerry Junkin, members of The Dallas Winds sometimes drive across two states (and in the Southwest, that can be a long way!).

The energy surrounding the ensemble is electric, and Kim has overseen it all. Of course, he has been assisted by a line of excellent assistants including the indomitable Gigi Norwood (who also is retiring, sniff). But Kim has set the tone with his playful spirit and forgiving nature, even while wrestling with the consequences of issues that tug from all sides. I believe he originated their long-time slogan of The Dallas Winds’ concerts: “Have fun, Make Friends, and Be amazed.” Isn’t that what should happen at a concert?

In such a story as this, there are too many anecdotes to tell. I could mention how Kim regularly tickled audiences when, acknowledging the official sponsors of each concert, he mentioned The Dallas Wind’s official veterinarian (for the office cat Ms. Widget) and the ensemble’s official taco provider (La Popular). Kim has been responsible for so many engaging traditions, including the decision to partner with “performers” from the spectacular Birds of the World show that appears regularly in Dallas as part of the Texas State Fair. In fact, my first video interview (preceded by an even funnier audio one that today we’d call a podcast) involved “interviewing” that show’s star singing parrot, Groucho, who more than once would convey the opening notes of The Dallas Winds’ season.

Kim’s successor has a terrific pedigree. The organization will be in good hands. But it won’t be the same without Kim. Who, for example, will take the stage at the beloved December concert wrapped in Christmas lights? What can replace the tousle of curls that distinguish Kim’s profile as he stands on stage before every concert, rousing the audience to cheer for members of the high-school and college bands who travel by bus across Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico to attend these concerts?

Kim and his wife Leann Binford, a tireless, innovative music educator who has done extraordinary things to bring the arts to children, are building a house in New Mexico. They anticipate a quieter life. But I suspect that, after a bit of a break, each of them will be drawn into new projects to serve the cause of beauty and learning. I wish I could raise a glass to you in person Saturday night, Kim. But I am glad I could share some of your story with my readers