Michael Hauri and His Musical Dream

You may know of Michael Hauri, the son of Wesley and Sandra Hauri, as a football player and champion weightlifter. Yes, you may have known he was the brother of Amy Hauri, the J.C. McKenna grad who won the Lake Leota Grove Chase 5k run several years back.

I knew Michael as a saxophone player, one of the famous "blues brothers" of the Evansville Jazz Band of Soetart, Jakes and Hauri, who when they were in New York used to come to breakfast in their sunglasses and we never knew whether technically they had slept or not...however,

At the 2005 EHS Fine Arts Awards, Mr. Z revealed the rest of the story. Sometime after I saw Michael Hauri perform with the Dallas Brass professional ensemble in 2004, he came to the conclusion that if musical instruments were breaking down nationally as much as they were locally, this could be a career opportunity.

Band Intrument Repair Programs are rare, but one is located in Red Wing, Mn. at Minnesota State College Southeast Technical(www.southeasttech.mnscu.edu ) The only problem is that students enrolled in this program must know how to play the instruments they will repair. This created a total musical learning frenzy in the Hauri home as Michael pushed to learn the other instruments.

The program for instrument repair in Red Wing has an impressive reputation and students come from all over the world to attend. In 2001, 100% of their students were placed for employment after graduation.

In recognition of his achievent, Michael Hauri was awarded the Senior Outstanding Music Award for 2005. It"s about instruments and it's about dreams. Congratulations, Michael and Best Wishes as you head to Red Wing. Keep in contact with The Evansville Observer when you are away. Residents can contribute to the Band Instrument Fund at EHS by simply sending a donation to the attn of Mr. Z and marking it "Instrument Fund."