Emil Pavlik was an American Performing Musician, Brass Instructor, Arranger, Musical Director
Born Chicago, IL August 22, 1919, died Racine, WI May 15, 2011.
In a time when drum corps was characterized by rigid formations and military music, Emil Pavlik - nicknamed "Big E" - truly marched to the beat of his own drum. Beginning his relationship with drum corps in the 1950s as a bugle instructor with the Racine Y.M.C.A. Kilties, Emil challenged the activity's establishment by expanding the repertoire to include music ranging from original compositions to the jazz of
Glenn Miller. As a result, the
Kilties Drum & Bugle Corps became a magnet that attracted members from neighboring cities - and from other corps.
Emil was a proud, first- generation son of an immigrant family from Prague, Czechoslovakia. After leaving Chicago, the family moved to Ottawa, Ill., where Emil had many happy schoolhood memories and stories of his beloved dog, Dickie. They migrated to Racine in the late 1920's with his father opening a tavern, Steve's Place, at the corner of 21st and Mead Streets. It was in that neighborhood that he lost his desire to pitch for the Yankees (he once pitched a no-hitter with the Lakeside League), to pursue this love he found in music.
He found he could get two cornet lessons on a horn he got from his Uncle John, in return for six of his mother's kolaches. He graduated from Park High School. He studied music at USAFI, the
University Of Hawaii, Chicago College of Music, the Midwestern Conservatory of Music, and the Metropolitan School of Music.
During World War II, Emil proudly served as Corporal in the United States Army stationed in Pearl Harbor, and played in the 297th Coast Artillery Band. Throughout his life, he continued his pursuit and love for music. He learned from one teacher, who gave him lessons for free, that there was no need for payment. Just pass the knowledge along to the next person --- a philosophy he never forgot. On September 3, 1948, he was united in marriage to Beverly Nelson.
Emil was employed by Morris Letter Service for over 40 years and retired to spend more time with his ill wife. He always said he never retired, he was just "between gigs." An accomplished musician, Emil studied the Schillinger System of Music at several Chicago Conservatories, along with conducting. Emil's love of music and enthusiastic talent was showcased by playing trumpet and arranging music for the 297th AGF Band in the Hawaiian Islands and Tinian, Mariannas.
He played with
Skinnay Ennis from Los Angeles, Calif. and
Frankie Masters from Chicago, Ill. and his best Army buddy was the noted tenor sax man,
Sam Donahue. Emil was a 50-plus member of the Musicians Union #42 and also the proud recipient of the 1987 Racine Musicians Association Award "Excellence in Music." He was the Arranger and a Trumpet Player with the Freddie Mann Band, then with John Bunic Band for over 30 years, and a member of the Wes Adrian Avant Garde Group.
There were countless other gigs along the way. He served as Musical Director and Arranger for the Racine
Kilties Drum & Bugle Corps from 1949 until 1970. Under his musical direction and with his radical jazz arrangements, the Kilties garnered three VFW National Championships - 1964, 1965, and 1969. The Kilties' reputation skyrocketed, and fans eagerly awaited what Emil had up his sleeve for the next season. He always humbly said that it was not him that led them to the championships, it was the corps themselves who marched on the field, as he only stood on the sidelines.
Emil's iconic arrangement of "Auld Lang Syne" has been nationally recognized in the drum corps community since 1960. Emil directed
J.I. Case Company and Western Publishing Company, Inc. choruses, and various church choirs. He directed the pit band for the Kiltie Kapers, which originated in the early 1950's, and directed several Miss Racine Shows. In 1970, Emil was the Musical Director of the first Cardiac Capers. Many of the young performers he mentored back then are still performing locally with the Penguin Players.
On July 4, 2004, he was the first Inductee and Charter Member of the Kiltie Hall of Fame. Even a bigger honor --- he was nominated by numerous colleagues and inducted into the Drum Corps International (DCI) Hall of Fame in August, 2009, the same month he turned 90 years old. He made the trip to Indianapolis, Ind. and received this coveted award before tens of thousands of fans. He was known and loved by all who craved to get a picture taken with him or share how his style of arranging had changed their musical ways. At his induction, he gave a phenomenal "off the cuff" speech which had the crowd begging for more. Back in Racine, he celebrated his 90th birthday with over a hundred friends and fellow musicians. Mayor John Dickert was on hand to read a proclamation naming his birthday "Emil Pavlik Day in Racine." Over the years, many people he worked with shared stories of his caring personality, his ability to reach youth that others could not, and how he never went back on his word. The same can be said that of his life as a father and grandfather. He was always there, until the very end. It is joyous to say that just one month prior to his departure from this world, he was able to attend the Penguin Players show. He was so happy to see so many of the singers and dancers that he worked with for over 60 years, and to see his grandson, Nick in the cast carrying on the Pavlik tradition.
One of the greatest highlights in the past few years (as if there weren't enough) was to see his beloved
New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl. That was the topping on the cake. He was never one to wear a baseball cap, but from that day forward, he could always be found with one of his Saints caps on, usually the Championship one. He had developed personal relationships with some of the players over the years, and had the pictures and autographs to prove it.
