Invasion of Privacy: Music Professor James Kimball
Geneseo is alive with intelligent and alluring people. It could be the lady who swipes your card at the dining hall, a coach, a fellow student or a faculty member. It could even be your fascinating music professor that has been teaching at this college for 45 years, Professor of Music and Conductor of String Band James Kimball.
Kimball’s parents are musically talented people, and much of his childhood consisted of fostering his own love for such an art. He grew up in Ohio, attended high school in Michigan and went to Cornell University for his undergrad. He then went to Germany to serve in the army and attended school internationally.
After his time in Germany, Kimball returned to the States to pursue his graduate school education in Connecticut. He happily expresses that Geneseo feels like home to him, especially in consideration of how many times he has moved throughout his life.
“There was no place like home until I found Geneseo,” Kimball said via email. “[This school] is the only place where I lived the longest and felt the happiest.”
With his love and pride for being a New Yorker, and the bonus of working at a great school with a strong music department, he feels grateful for his journey thus far.
Kimball reflected in greater detail on his time in the army and in Germany and spoke about his first position in maintenance.
“All able-bodied male undergraduates at Cornell had to do two years of ROTC in those days; it was the peak of the Cold War and Vietnam was just starting to crank up. In lieu of getting drafted I chose to stay with ROTC and go in as an officer,” Kimball said. “I requested Germany as my initial posting and influenced perhaps by my engineering degree, I was put into a maintenance and supply battalion in Giessen, Germany.”
Soon enough, a Major in the headquarters in Germany knew of Kimball’s musical background and encouraged him to join the local opera house chorus. Kimball managed to not only get invited to join several choirs and play music at chapel services, but to keep up with his military work as he introduced computers to battalion supply operations. Kimball was the only member of his battalion who became fluent in German. He cultivated a great name for himself in the community.
Kimball detailed his educational experience and journey post active-duty in Germany.
“I went to the University in Giessen and asked if I could study there as a foreign student for a year. I paid about $65 dollars tuition, another $65 for a room in the dorm and I was in. It was a good year, making friends, continuing music and with a good bit of travel thrown in,” Kimball said. “From Germany I came directly to graduate school in World Music at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.”
Not only did Kimball study music more extensively while in Germany; during his time at school in Giessen, Kimball continued to practice his German with a local street vendor to maintain his fluency.
Through attending Cornell and then living in Europe, Kimball continued to expand each of his experiences, whether it be practicing music or becoming fluent in a foreign language. Kimball’s parents influenced his interest in folk and world music. As a senior in high school, he played a 12-piece trombone while in his high school marching band, and an alto horn in his annual fourth of July cornet band.
In his free time, Kimball makes bird recordings, goes hiking and works with music. He is frequently occupied by documenting, recording, collecting, transcribing, archiving and writing about traditional music and dance, all while sipping on a vanilla latte from either Starbucks or the local Crickets bakery.
Kimball notes that he enjoys tradition. He takes pleasure in meeting people who have intellectual stories to share, or who can share music and old-time dances. Kimball often brings others’ stories or music back to his classroom and incorporates it into a symphony.