I am a Musician

Who is Daniel Shorb the Musician?

I never had to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I always knew (as far back as I can remember) I would pursue a career in music. My mother said that musical talent was hereditary. My knowledge of my musical ancestry goes back to 1728, when Gregor Werner (my mother was a Warner, which was originally Werner) was appointed Kapellmeister at the famous Esterházy court in Eisenstadt. Werner served full-time until 1761, when a composer by the name of Joseph Haydn took over. There have been several musicians of note in my family since then. My Uncle Edward Warner played clarinet in the Moose Band when I was little. I loved to watch him march in the parades of our town. He always encouraged me in music. At his 80th birthday party, he had me play “Brighten the Corner” on the piano for him. Of course, I could play it from memory, even though I hadn’t played it for years. Mother taught herself how to play the piano when she was a child, and she taught my two brothers and me to sing three-part harmony before I was old enough to go to school. My baby sister could match pitch as a toddler without being cued.

I owe a lot to my parents. Although we didn’t have much money, my parents provided every possible opportunity for me to study music. I took piano lessons from age five until I went to college to major in piano. I learned years later that my dad sometimes went to sell shoes during my piano lesson, so he would have the money to pay my teacher when he picked me up. As a kid, I took weekly music lessons on as many as four instruments at a given time. In school, I played violin, cello, trumpet, and baritone. I took voice lessons, and I was drum major four years in marching band. My high school band director encouraged me and had our band and orchestra play my arrangements. So my musical background was pretty broad. I had a good ear, and made a perfect score in every ear-training exam in high school, college, and graduate school.

I am now retired, after directing church music for 43 years. I worked very hard and wrote a lot of my own arrangements when I couldn’t buy what I needed. I directed choirs at all levels, and instrumental groups of numerous sizes and instrument combinations. I taught myself how to play handbells and taught/directed handbells and ChoirChimes® for groups of all ages, from young children all the way to a bell choir of senior adults. My level of expertise developed, and I served as a clinician for handbell festivals and as the Florida Chair of what was then the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers. During my three years outside of Florida, I built a comprehensive church music program from almost nothing to a full program including children’s choirs with bells, chimes, and summer music camp, up to adult choirs and groups in both traditional and contemporary veins. I was church organist for about 30 of those 43 years. In fact, for over 15 years I had organ responsibilities every single day. This included a live radio broadcast on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday; college chapel services on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; and morning and night services on Sunday. No days off or holidays. I played Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The church-related liberal arts college where I taught had many extra services, revivals, and conferences. After my mentor/supervisor stopped playing for health reasons, I played organ for all of them. The church had baptisms after every service and I played softly for them all. Truly I can say that I played the organ while tens-of-thousands were baptized. In the services, many invitation hymns were used, and I had to be ready to immediately give the chord and play each hymn from memory. For several years I didn’t know in advance what hymns or choruses would be sung. The hymn was announced, the finger pointed at me, and I immediately played an introduction. Few people comprehend how much musicianship it takes to do that service after service for years.

When two of our sons went to college 183 miles away and played in the football band, we bought season tickets and attended the Saturday games (and still do). Quite often the games were night games. For 19 years I was back at my place in church every Sunday morning. No overnight weekend trips for me.

As I perform the necessary retirement “downsizing” at our smaller home, I am continually amazed at how many papers, analyses, programs, projects, curriculum courses, teaching aids, and especially music I wrote—much of which I had forgotten. Everything I did was tailored exactly to what was needed without compromise. I’m not entirely proud of that, because it jeopardized my family relationships and my health. But it was the way I was raised and educated.

Indoor photos by Dwight Walters Photography