HR1411 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1411 LRB094 21350 HSS 59698 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois are pleased to congratulate Jim Culbertson of Decatur on the occasion of his retirement after 35 years in education; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Culbertson has been director of high school bands in Decatur for the past 35 years, and for 29 years, he has led the MacArthur High School Band Program, in which the Jazz Band has earned the distinction as one of the premier jazz groups in the country; the band has been awarded 32 Down Beat magazine Student Music Awards in an assortment of categories, garnering the top spot as the Best High School Jazz Band in the U.S. four times; the jazz band has traveled extensively and has performed in Japan, at the North Sea, and in Montreux, Umbria, and Vienne Jazz Festivals; and

WHEREAS, He has served as Musical Director and Conductor for the Decatur Municipal Band since 1978 and continues to be active serving as guest clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States in both the jazz and concert areas; and

WHEREAS, He has served as Vice-President of the Jazz Division of the Illinois Music Educators Association and is the past Vice-President of the Illinois unit of IAJE; he is also involved with writing reviews of new jazz band publications for The Instrumentalist magazine; he was jazz chair for the National Band Association (NBA) from 1999 to 2003 and also served as the coordinator and director of the NBA All-American Jazz Band for the 2000 convention in San Antonio; he is currently a member of the Resource Team for the International Association of Jazz Educators, a position he has held since the fall of 2000; and

WHEREAS, In addition to his duties at MacArthur, which include three concert bands, a marching band, a pep band, two jazz bands, and a jazz combo, he also assists with the bands at Stephen Decatur Middle School; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Culbertson is also very active as a performer, most recently touring the country playing trumpet in the band for his son, Brian Culbertson, who is a GRP/Verve recording artist; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Culbertson and his wife, Carol, have made their home in Decatur for the past 35 years and are the proud parents Jamie and Brian, who is married to Michelle; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Jim Culbertson on the occasion of his retirement, and we thank him for his many years of devotion to the students of Decatur; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to him as an expression of our deepest gratitude and esteem.