Saturday, September 17, 1983The Daily Tar Hee!5
At
.nLSL
o o o
Major Y's background varie
d
By KIMBERLY L. MARION
Special to the DTH
For 16 years, he led the U.S. Air Force Band
before royalty and heads of state. He served all
the presidents from Roosevelt through Nixon
and played before Queen Elizabeth, King Saud
of Arabia, and Premier Nikita Kruschev, secre
taries of state and various other dignitaries.
But for the last 18 years, Major John F. Yesu
laitis has been the creative force behind the UNC
bands.
"The Major has seen everything and done
everything in life and still has a great capacity
for living," said Allen Reep, assistant director
for the UNC bands.
The 66-year-old "Major Y," as he is called on
campus, agreed that he has had a varied career
that has taught him many lessons the most im
portant, how to live each day with enthusiasm,
excitement and laughter.
"You have to learn how to laugh," Yesulaitis
said. "Sometimes people are too serious. They
take life too seriously, and if you don't know
how to laugh, life can be very, very drab."
Yesulaitis began his military career in 1936 as
a French hornist with the U.S. Army Band in
Washington.
In 1947, he became the associate conductor of
the U.S. Air Force Band and the Symphony Or
chestra in Washington, entertaining White
House families and their guests.
Although he was accustomed to seeing royalty
and dignitaries, he said he once embarrassed
himself while playing for the Queen (now the
Queen Mother) and King George. When he
shook the Queen's Hand, he removed his hat,
which is part of the military uniform that is not
to be removed.
During his reign as associate conductor of the
Air Force Band, he also had the opportunity to
travel to Europe, Africa, Iceland, Scandinavia,
China, Haiti, Bermuda, Mexico, Canada, and
the Philippines. He lived in Japan and Korea for
a year each.
He said his musical highlight was during one
of these many trips when he conducted a band in
Berlin Olympic Stadium before an audience of
125,000 , his largest ever.
Shortly before his military career ended, Yes
ulaitis was married. In 1964, he and his wife,
Patricia, moved to North Carolina, where he
took a stationary job as the band director at
UNC.
Before Yesulaitis came to UNC, the band was
called the "Meandering Tar Heels," Reep said.
Band membership has almost tripled since Yesu
laitis' arrival.
One reason for the increase is Yesulaitis' abil
ity to stay calm in stressful situations. He said
that conductors, like actors, must develop a
"who cares?" attitude so they can keep from be
ing embarrassed or frustrated much of the time.
"The Major never gets uptight about perfor
mances," said band member Alyson Reid.
Eleni Bacas added, "He's not like a real ma
jor, 'hupt-two.' He is extremely patient and un
derstanding." When asked about his patience, Yesulaitis re
sponded, "I am sure there are times when I por
tray that image. I try to stay calm, but there are
times when I get excited. However, if I show
stress, it creates a big problem (with the band),
so I have to keep my wits about me."
Yet to many people, including Reep, Yesulai
tis is an "ultimate father figure."
"He really cares about people. He is forever
calling us (the band) his' family," Reep added.
Yesulaitis agreed that he has a big family. "All
of my people in the band know that any time,
they have a problem, they can come to see me
and I'll listen to them. I don't know if I can
help, but I'll listen." .
The family feeling contributes pride to the
band organization, creating a little extra effort
by the members because they are working as one
unit, Yesulaitis said.
In addition to being a "father figure" for the
band, he is also supportive of the University and
1 its athletic teams. On his office bulletin board,
he has posted the schedules for almost every
UNC athletic event.
"He's the teams' best cheerleader," Reep
said: "You can't find anyone in the University
community who hasn't been touched by the Ma
jor. Everybody knows him. He's our best am-
vk -t
hSM- X.
II
f - J f'i
'-f t I
1 - ? '..WmS W M 4b ,1 hi ...,,,.,.,... .J
DTHJeff Nouville
John Yesulaitis (above), "Major Y", traveled the world with the Air Force Band
before settling down in Blue Heaven. Yesulaitis has been the director of UNC's
Marching Tar Heels (shown left at practice) since 1964.
bassador."
During the marching band season, Yesulaitis
is in charge of choosing the music for and de
signing and charting the halftime shows, which
take about eight hours a week, to prepare.
Yesulaitis also conducts the playing rehear
sals, which take about 12 hours a week.
After football season, he conducts two pep
bands and a concert band.
Although Yesulaitis does delegate some re
sponsibilities to the band officers' and Reep, he .
usually operates the band himself.
And during his years at UNC, he has done
more than just create a name for the band he
has made history himself. -:
In 1975, Yesulaitis was named one of the top
10 most outstanding musical directors in the
United States and Canada by The School Musi
cian Directors and Teacher magazine.
In 1976, Yesulaitis became president of the
American Bandmasters Association, which in
Reep's opinion is the most prestigious group in
the world. After a four-year term, he became a
member of the board of directors.
When conducting doesn't occupy Yesulaitis
time, he enjoys relaxing at his mountain home
and visiting people.
"Relationships are important to me and the
band. If I can do something for someone, I will
go out of my way to do it as a matter of friend
ship more than anything else," he said.
While Yesulaitis said he has accomplished and 1
seen almost everything he cares to see, he does
not plan to retire any time soon. , .
"My goal is to be happyin what l am doing,
as long as I can do something," ne said. "I
don't care to burn up the world or anything like
that."
DTHJeff Neuville
THE Daily Crossword By
Avery P. Bromf ield
ACROSS
1 Space age
spin-off
5 Winged
10 Brim
14 Mountain
range in
USSR
15 Mansion
16 Evening: Fr.
17 Armstrong
andAldrin
20 Wapiti
21 Cars
22 Passageway
23 Hostelries
24 Purpose
25 They probe
the uni
verse 33 Dragged
34 Amor
35 Gershwin
36 River of
Germany
37 Big cat
39 Chart of
a piece
of land
40 Continent:
abbr.
41 Muslim
judge
42 Penned
43 Out-of-this-worid
shots
47 Perfect
48 Fibbed
49 Polaris and
Vega
52 Yawning
54 Astronaut,
at times
Yesterday's Puzzle Solved:
IClOlAlLj f0 P T I TT L I N
I A N 1 1 111 .W R E (T K jlT iT A R
Eli. ZM.O w T N E 5AT E
""z! y X r RTl p fl" i v p r"l
HlRNlTT PELT E.L.M
y r "o ilr T B x t r ; n ale
T"TsTei"id;ar.r5w
M A" I X T I E j R 1 1 T S
IZW AlTlN AM E N 0 0
aToo rFr'at e STjT ain
T J J IT " H i X" IT N " i F N I
xdt 1 v e n t 0 t a
rIaIsIeuyIeIsIeIsUeImii it
57 Space
, station
60 Word with
shoppe
61 Weasel's
kin
62 Level
63 Equipment
64 Students
65 Mariner
mission
DOWN
1 Sand
formation
2 USSR sea
3 Stint
4 In the man
ner of
5 Quantity
6 Chinese
philosopher
7 Domini
8 Drags
9 Epoch
10 Arctic
native
11 Accom
plishes 12 Maiden
13 Irish
Gaelic
18 Hairy,
sort of.
19 Secular
people
23 Bakery
91783 worker
24 Hebrew
stringed
instrument
25 Pumps or
Oxfords
26 City of
Italy
27 Vigilant
28 Lawful
29 Before
30 Steer
31 Muse of
lyric
poetry
32 Cloys
37 Chat
38 Amin
39 Poke
41 Near
42 Primitive
invention
44 Achiever
45 Joyful
46 Musicians,
sort of
49 Weather
condition
50 Story
51 Forever
day
52 In re
53 Paid
admissions
54 Hurrah!
55 Roman road
56 Piggeries
58 Friend of
Snow White
59 Vehicle
for17A
1 R 13 , 14 I 15 16 7 17 5 110 111 112 113
T? IT "
IF" " " " TT" " " """ 22 """" ""
zT 24"
M' " j 26" 1 2f "" 1 29 To 131 32
33" "" """" 34 35 '
36 " "" "" """"" 37 138 " '""" W " ""
To TT 42""
"43 "" 44 " "" " 45 46
77" 48
tsTpdj 51" " " 52 S3 " "" " 54 55 56
58 59
60 "" TT" 62 """"
1983 Tribune Company Syndicate, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
91783
ILt-
Biit
Compare Our Incredibly Low Prices!
Try our medium 12" Pizza with
1 topping
only 3,85
Present this ad
for
115
your first months'
membership.
University Mail Chapel Hill 942-7545
South square Mall Durham 489-3012
"
OH, I FOR60T...
YOU'RE NOT HERE J
WHERE WAS IT YOU
WERE 60ING? WILL
YOU BE HOME FOR SUPPER 7
7
WHY AM I TALKING
TO YOU IF YOU'RE
KJHT UCPC 7
1 1 w i nuru
T
( OH, ONE MORE
VvJE5TI0N:::y
II II I I N ,
W0OPY0U . ,
. WHY I UYB J ,
RAINY PAYS,
MO? NO, J ji
111 1M - ftr&H
a WHOM
n i i in i in