PG:  So, could you tell me what you were involved with before coming to LCC?  Can you speak about that?

NC:  Actually, I’ll go back quite a ways.  I’m from Washington and graduated from the University of Washington and have both my BA and Masters in Performance there.  And met my wife my first year out teaching, and it was her first year out teaching, also, in Seattle.  We taught there for two years and wanted to do something very different, so we answered an ad in the NEA journal about teaching on Guam.  So we ended up teaching on Guam for two years. 

And this gave us an opportunity – we planned for those two years to travel the long way around the world back to the States. And, so that we did.  However, our trip ended up being six months, because living in the tropics we became so oriented and our blood got so thin, and by the time we got into November we were so cold in northern Europe that we decided to come home. 

And, following this we explored possibilities of jobs and I interviewed in Eugene and I ended up at South EugeneHigh School where I met Ed Ragozzino.  And my wife also taught in the Eugene schools.

Ed and I started collaborating doing musicals together. He had been doing them prior to my coming to South in 1962.  But, from that point on we did musicals at South, we did musicals at Lane, we did community musicals, raising money for the auditorium, did some ten summer musicals, and presented at  the LCAA Association which was planning for an auditorium for Eugene.  After we got the auditorium we did twelve more different summer musicals in the Hult Center.  And I guess that brings us up to the next question.

PG:  So when did you begin at Lane and when did you retire from LaneCommunity College?

NC:  My first year was the fall of 1968 and taught there for 24 years retiring in 1992. 

PG:  And could you tell me what it was like for you to go from South Eugene High to LaneCommunity College back in 1968?

NC:  Well, the teaching situation was very much different, because when we went there was no peforming arts department, and facilities were lacking, supplies were lacking, many many things we had to make do those first couple of years.  We did do musicals.  We did ‘em in the Forum Building and the very first one we would go up for evening rehearsals and have to remove ladders and plaster and clear off a stage area so that we could rehearse.

PG:  OK. How did you go about designing a music department at Lane Community College?  Can you describe that process and what was involved?

NC:  I can a little bit.  We were very fortunate in that we could work with the architects on our building.  And Ed Ragozzino and I did take several trips mostly to California exploring their junior colleges and looking at the facilities there to give us an idea what other community-type colleges were doing.  And, as I said, we had many many meetings with architects, and explaining our needs, our desires for a performing arts facility.

PG:  OK.  So in what ways did you see the music department at Lane Community College change since1968 until the time you retired in respect to the curriculum, the students, and their community involvement or response?

NC:  Well, there was a great deal of growth because we started virtually with nothing and a very barebones curriculum.  And there were two of us on staff that first year, Ed and myself.  And the next year we started expanding and expanded the curriculum, also the personnel in the department.  And this was a gradual process over the years.  Many classes were added to the curriculum.  And I guess I can speak mostly from the music end.  I know that both the drama and the music expanded greatly in curriculum.  And with the coming of Ed McManus we added the electronic music department which is a very exciting and ongoing department today.  We have many performing groups, and some of the performing groups that I work with are the Brass Ensemble, the Percussion Ensemble, the Baroque Orchestra, and eventually we had a faculty string quartet and mostly we could form quintets by adding a pianist to our group.

PG:  Do you want to speak about how the students – the change of the students from the decades that you were there?   Did you see any change at Lane?

NC:  I didn’t feel that our students changed all of that much.  I very much enjoyed working with the students that we had. And I think the achievement in general of many many students was very excellent because we could give them the individual attention which maybe at a larger school they could not get.  We, over the years, had many students that started there and transferred to the university very successfully.

PG:  And what was the community response or involvement, like, back in the 60’s or 70’s or 80’s regarding Lane’s music department?  Could you speak to that?

NC:  I think it was very good.  I had a, well, I guess they call it cross-campus music history and literature course.  It was a large class.  Sometimes there would be over a hundred students in it.  Sometimes eighty, ninety students and oftentimes there would be many adult community students in that class.  So there was, I think I got very favorable comments from that class.  And playing in the symphony, I was able to invite all members of that class to dress rehearsals of each concert, so, and that was very well attended and got many favorable comments.  Even today, sometimes someone will tap me on the shoulder when I’m returning after a symphony concert and say “Thank you, Mr. Cammack, for turning me on to this kind of music.”

PG:  And how long were you teaching at South Eugene High?

NC:  I taught there for six years, from ’62 through spring of ’68 before moving to Lane.

PG:  And that was just, I mean it was music?

NC:  Yes, and actually in teaching music in the district I taught at South High; I taught at Roosevelt; and at some point I even taught at Spencer Butte.  So I was in several buildings during each day.

PG:  And did you teach one-on-one at Lane in individual lessons?  Can you describe how that’s different for you than teaching a group or lecture class?

NC:  I did teach private lessons at Lane for quite a number of years.  And then at one point they decided that full-time faculty could not teach private because that was double-jeopardy or something.  But I think that eventually that went away, but I did enjoy teaching privately students.  I taught violin because that’s my major instrument.

PG:  Can you recall any difficult situations and how they were resolved?  Or what were some major challenges and how did you overcome them?

NC:  I only recall one incident that was really sort of harrowing and this was a prison release and he was in my Percussion Ensemble.  And he wasn’t always in attendance at rehearsals and so finally, I, as we were nearing a performance I had to tell him that I was sorry, but that he would not be performing with us.  We had a Saturday morning rehearsal, and I was the only instructor in the building, plus the students in my percussion ensemble.  And he comes in and starts threatening me and throwing a punch or two at me. And my students defended me and that was a sort of a scary moment, but that’s only one time,. I don’t believe…

PG:  Did the performances at Lane Community College like in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80’s, and ‘90s reflect the times, like for example, the Vietnam War, the woman’s movement? Did this have any influence with the classes or anything else?

NC:  Not really. As I mentioned, with my performing groups, basically I perform mostly with the Percussion Ensemble, and the Baroque Orchestra, and this Faculty Quintet that we have.  The Baroque Orchestra is string players – violins, violas, cellos, basses, and harpsichord.  We did call it the Baroque Orchestra because we largely did music for that size ensemble which is that music written during the Baroque era, Bach, Vivaldi, Corelli, Telemann, some of those composers.  And usually the kind of student that is interested in pursuing and doing that kind of music are very serious students and they’re all wrapped up in the music so outside influences don’t really have a lot of effect on that kind of group. 

The Percussion Ensemble – they’re sort of a different breed as far as musicians go.  Any many of them were in rock groups and they’re sort of a different background. But we were always doing classical compositions and mostly contemporary things, because the Percussion Ensemble itself is a very contemporary group - it didn’t exist back in the Baroque period, or the Classic period, or even the Romantic period.  And it was sort of a twentieth century ensemble.  And so it was exciting though because some of the works we did were very dramatic and the students really enjoyed participating in that.

PG:  Can you share how the music department collaborated with the theater and the dance department?  Is there any particular performance or several performances that stand out for you?

NC:  Well, we were always involved with the drama department because we did at least one musical a year and sometimes we did two, and there were even times when we did incidental music to a drama.  And we also collaborated with the dance department and accompanied them.  I remember doing things with the Percussion Ensemble, with the dance department, and doing things with the ……. Quintet.  I don’t think the Baroque Orchestra ever did anything with them.  But we did collaborate with them.

PG:  And was there any particular performance that stands out in your mind?

NC:  Oh, goodness. I don’t know.  Probably one of my most favorite performance… I don’t know.  That’s hard to say.  I know we enjoyed all of the musicals we did.  And…  I guess I remember one that really was fun for me.  I played in the orchestra – it was a small orchestra.  And that was Godspell.  And that was really a fun production.

PG:  And when did that happen, Godpsell, do you remember?

NC:  Oh, I don’t remember which year.  But I also played piano, so I played piano and organ in that ensemble.  And, also, something that we did that was maybe a little different, we did take some of the musicals to the state prisons and performed inside the prisons.  And we also took musicals to the Mt. Angel school up there.  I guess you call it the seminary at Mt. Angel, is that right? 

PG:  I’m not familiar with that.

NC:   I’m not Catholic and so I don’t know that I’m calling it right.  But there’s a monastery up there and I guess seminary is what they call the students that are studying the religious studies there.

PG:  And how long did that program or how long did that continue before….

NC:  Well, I don’t remember exactly, but I’m sure we did it for three or four different years.

PG:  How did your students evolve through the decades?  How would you describe that?

NC:  Well, of course our department grew and class sizes grew, and so we were working with more students all the time.  And, I don’t think our department ever suffered a loss of students, lack of students.

PG:  Well, can you comment on the students’ commitment to mastering an instrument or creating a piece?

NC:  Well, that is pretty hard to do because each individual student progresses at their particular rate or speed and in a community college situation I had several students that actually started an instrument at that level and really achieved. I had one student that came as a trumpet player and he came in and talked to me and wanted to play string bass and studied string bass and actually achieved a very proficient technique on it and auditioned for the Eugene Symphony and played in the Eugene Symphony for several years.  And then he became interested in becoming a instrument maker so he went to England and studied two years apprenticeship and is now, I believe, in Colorado making fine instruments.  But, I had several other students that started an instrument in college and actually were very proficient and transferred to the university and were majoring on that instrument.

PG:  Does anyone in particular stand out of your students?

NC:  Well, I don’t know, I guess one of the greatest thrills for me is … I had a student…. I don’t know whether I should name the student.  Steve Miracle who came to Lane and completed his two years, went to the University of Oregon and graduated and he is now Minister of Music at the First BaptistChurch.  And I had played at that church for, well, ever since 1963.  And so I had done many performances with him as conductor and it was a real thrill for me to play for one of my students.

PG:  Besides the amount of time actually teaching classes I would think it takes much more time in preparation and of course practicing on an instrument.  Could you comment about that.

NC:  Well, being a teacher is a full-time job.  And you don’t just go to school and then close the door at four o’clock.  Oftentimes I would not be out of there til five or six and need to turn around and come back to a rehearsal at seven, and sometimes those would go to eleven or eleven-thirty at night.  And of course you had to prepare.  Music History and Lit was a lecture-type of class and I had to prepare for that.  You were always searching for music for performing groups.  You’re preparing the score so they can adequately rehearse things.  And so I think anyone as a teacher, whether it’s math, English, or music, or drama or whatever, it is a full-time job, not just an eight-hour job.

PG:  So with all the budget cuts that occurred and continue to happen, how did the Music Department continue to exist?

NC:  Well, that was one sore point for me.  Once we got established - when we started the department we had no library whatever, meaning musical scores and musical parts.  And so when our budget got cut so lean, there was not enough money to buy music, so then I borrowed music from the university, I borrowed music from the public schools, so it was always going out searching to borrow instead of add to our library.

PG:  Can you speak about the Performing Arts Building?  It wasn’t really completed until 1974.  So, where were classes held before that time?

NC:  Well, we had two really unusual…  When we first arrived, our building was a temporary building out in the parking lot and it had one division and a front door and a back door and one-half was music and one-half was drama.  And that first year I directed the band or I did for several years.  And we had to schedule classes so that when Band or the Baroque Orchestra was rehearsing they could have drama classes on the other side because the wall was so thin.  And then at one point when we finally had to move out of the basement ‘cause they were gonna to remodel that, they rented a circus tent that they put up out in the parking lot and at that time I was doing the Brass Ensemble, and, of course, we had a band director by then, Gene Aiken, and he rehearsed out there and so did I. And it was so cold and they had these noisy propane heaters going.  It just was dreadful.

PG:  So, what inspired you when you were at Lane Community College and what inspires you now?  What kept you going?

NC:  Well, all my life has been music.  I started studying before I was seven.  And I’ve played in symphonies all along the way.  And I’ve been .. I directed the Eugene Youth Symphony for thirteen years. And I now have played in the Eugene Symphony, this is now my twenty-first season.  And music is always exciting.  And there is always more music, new music even though it was written in the 1800s or whatever.  If you haven’t played it, it’s new; and so there’s always the thrill of doing something new.  Plus, returning to old favorites.

PG:  So, would you like to speak about what you’ve been involved with since retiring from Lane?

NC:  Well, mostly, I have continued to play at the First Baptist Church and that usually is at Christmas and Easter-time when they have a forty--forty-five piece orchestra and they have a wonderful choir.  And, I, of course, played in the Symphony.  And my hobby is photography and I’ve probably become more active with photography.  And I’ve joined the Emerald Photography Society here in Eugene.  And that’s a fun club, we have exhibits and we have competitions.  And that’s fun. 

…  And Ed McManus and his new approach and that was more and more exciting.  We became a department, we could discuss things.  And so that was exciting, watching the growth of something that you had started from scratch.