The Kennebec Performing Arts Company Jazz Band rehearses Tuesday under the direction of Charles T. Milazzo at the Winthrop Performing Arts Center. Milazzo is set to retire after a 43-year career. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
WINTHROP — Charles T. Milazzo took another step Tuesday night toward his final curtain call in a career that has spanned 43 years.
In the auditorium at Winthrop High School, Milazzo, often referred to as “Chuck,” oversaw his last rehearsal with the Kennebec Performing Arts Company as he prepares for retirement.
On the stage, members of the jazz band, all dressed in black, were perched on neatly arranged chairs, gripping their instruments and flipping pages on music stands. A cacophony of percussions and blaring trombones and trumpets filled the room.
Milazzo, 84, sat on one side of the stage, glaring through his eyeglasses at the pages in front of him. With a pencil, he jotted notes. His left hand came up holding three fingers while his right hand swayed to a rhythm in his head. He made more notes.
Soon, everyone was in position, ready to create music.
“One, two, and one, two, three, go,” Milazzo said, waving his wrist, and the rehearsal began.
Milazzo was hired in 1980 as the music director by the Kennebec Performing Arts Company, formerly known as Augusta Symphony Organization. At the time, he taught music and theater at Maranacook High School in Readfield.
Having taught music in Vermont and Massachusetts, Milazzo had enough feathers in his cap to take on such a role. He continued to teach and became the conductor and music director for the Kennebec Performing Arts Company. Although he retired from teaching at the school in 2000, he continued in his role at the KPAC.
“It was a smaller group back then,” Milazzo said. “We built it from that to what it is today.”
The company is group of amateurs and professionals learning and playing music. In addition to the jazz band, a wind ensemble and a band of singers are also part of the group. Milazzo has been overseeing all three groups, and now, with his retirement imminent, the arts company’s board of directors is working to find his successor.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” Jane Brogan, a member of the wind ensemble, said. “He told us after a recent rehearsal, and it caught us all off guard. But we are happy for him. He deserves a retirement.”
Milazzo said he attributes his love of music to his parents.
“They saw something in me when I was 3,” he said. “Now, I want to create and teach music and perform music for the people. It’s the best medicine for me.”
The Kennebec Performing Arts Company Jazz Band rehearses Tuesday under the direction of Charles T. Milazzo, third from left, at the Winthrop Performing Arts Center. Milazzo is set to retire after a 43-year career. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Milazzo said he began playing the clarinet and saxophone in fourth grade. He would later graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with a focus on education and clarinet performance.
Over the years, Milazzo said, the challenging part has not been to teach music, but to find musicians.
“I am always looking to find a replacement or find a new addition,” he said. “It’s tough to find musicians who will put in the work and understand what to play. Because you must know what kind of a crowd you are playing to.”
Judy Mank, another member of the group, described Milazzo as the best conductor a musician could have.
“He’s a combination of stern and creative, and he just knows how to teach everyone,” Mank said. “He has that innate ability to help people and is creatively community-minded.”
Lucas Soucier plays bass trombone Tuesday as the Kennebec Performing Arts Company Jazz Band rehearses under the direction of Charles T. Milazzo at the Winthrop Performing Arts Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
During Tuesday’s rehearsal, following a song, Milazzo asked Lucas Soucier, a bass trombone player, to step farther out onto the stage.
“I’d like you to come out more,” Milazzo said. “This way, the other guys can be more energetic and harmonize with you.”
Soucier obliged, and they played again. Milazzo asked them to stop midway.
“See? You look great up front, Lucas,” Milazzo said, smiling.
The show then continued, with Milazzo raising his arms as the song soared to a crescendo and then dropped to a soothing melody. His foot did not stop tapping the wooden floor for a second.
After the last song, Milazzo softly addressed his students. He asked them how long they had played under his baton. Some said a decade, some more than 30 years. One high school student, a newcomer, smiled at the question, and Milazzo urged everyone to give her a round of applause.
Conductor Charles T. Milazzo sorts through sheet music Tuesday at the start of a Kennebec Performing Arts Company Jazz Band rehearsal at the Winthrop Performing Arts Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“Let me make a strong suggestion to you all,” he said. “You will be giving the new conductor a chance — everyone teaches differently. I hope they will go to swing for you and that you do the same. And, be kind.”
Milazzo, who lives in Wayne, said he is planning to move to Connecticut after retirement, where he expects to be greeted by old friends and perhaps connect with a school in need of a music teacher.
He is set to attend his last concert Friday at Winthrop High School. On Saturday, the group is scheduled to perform a farewell concert at 7 p.m. for its adored conductor at Hope Baptist Church in Manchester.
“Yes, I expect tears on the day of the farewell,” Milazzo said. “I am an emotional guy.”
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