Final HHS Curtain Call for Band Director Keith Wander

Keith got his start in Hawley in 1982 as a student teacher under then Band Director, Richard Hansen, and in 1983 he started his career as Director of Bands. “I always say, “I’m walking on the shoulders of giants.” There has been a long chain of some amazing band directors in Hawley since the 1920s, and I hope I somehow fit into that,” Keith said.
Keith first took the stage and sang his first solo in kindergarten. “My mom and dad used to say I would stand in front of the TV and sing along with Mitch Miller, but I don’t remember any of it,” Keith shared. At the age of nine, Keith picked up his first instrument, a trumpet because the thought it was cool. The trumpet was just the beginning of several instruments Keith would pick up and learn. “There was a time when I used to say I didn’t play bagpipes, but Sara Klingfus wanted to play the chanter which is part of the bagpipes that plays the melody so I have my own chanter,” Keith, who has become proficient in all band instruments, stated.

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Retired Band Director Keith Wander