The Eden native graduated from the N.C. School of the Arts in 1970 and became a professional classical trumpeter. In 1990, he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from UNC-Greensboro and went on to teach at East Cary Middle School and Reedy Creek Middle School, and his bands received many awards.

Gardner, who retires from teaching today, was honored as the grand marshal of this year's Cary Band Day parade.

Correspondent Anne Woodman caught up with him to talk about his time inspiring middle school bands.

Q: Before you became a band director, you were a classical trumpeter. Why did you decide to teach middle school? I got my doctorate and wrote my dissertation on "Dealing with the Development of Psycho-Motor Skills." As a performer, I had presented to grades four, five and six. I just like that age group.

Q: Middle school band requires you to take many students from the very start of learning an instrument to reading music, learning technique and coming together as a group. What was the biggest challenge? I knew I wanted to teach them before I ever walked in the room. What excited me was the blank slate, more or less. I'm from Eden. When I went to school there, we didn't have general music [education, like Wake County elementary school students do]. I was the first in the family to start with an instrument. My pitch acuity was pretty good, so my band director said I could choose an instrument. I said, "coronet." I opened up the case and didn't see a long, dark instrument. I didn't know--I had been expecting a "clarinet."

Q: What are some of the lessons your students taught you? When I started out, I was teaching with specific ideas, not necessarily traditional ideas. I didn't have any notion of how good the students could get. They continually surprised me. From the beginning, they sounded pretty good. At every point, when I would evaluate them as a group, they played better than I could reasonably expect. They ended up being able to play very difficult music very well. I was glad I had gone into it open-minded.

Q: Describe one of your best days as band director and why it was so memorable. We were invited to play at the state convention. I was taking students to Asheboro for the festival. It was the first time taking seventh and eighth graders there.All three got [the highest ranking]. People were bewildered the first time I brought my beginning band. My beginning bands were fine bands. They reflected my passion and the kids' commitment.

Q: Middle school is a time of change, and you hear about behavior problems. What was your experience? It was ultimately very rewarding. Kids will always throw challenges at you. There are individual students who think the universe really does revolve around them. But they do have an interest in playing their instrument.

It is unusual for a band director to teach into his or her 60s. In band, you have to be able to engage; keep it moving. You can't be negative or militaristic -- they lose interest. You're always walking a fine line of control and nurturance. It took all-out effort every second, every class. It wasn't all pleasantness, and I was an exacting teacher, but not cruel. I wouldn't want to sugarcoat it -- it was hard work. But it was hard work for them, too.

Q: What will you miss the most? Usually, my alarm goes off at 5 a.m. -- and my adrenaline pumps until the end of the day. I don't think my body will forgive me, at 62, to start a new approach.

What I will miss is taking my students from opening the instrument to making the first sounds. You can't do everything at once. For the first six weeks, we don't do musical notation. It's like when a child learns to read--they learn to read words they already know, not words in a foreign language. With band, you have to give them a vocabulary. It's challenging but rewarding. And you have to take everyone along on the journey. With some, I challenged them and drew them out of their myopic little worlds.

Q: What will you do now? I applied for a job as my wife's assistant, and I got it. [Gardner's wife, Susan, is a cellist with the North Carolina Symphony. They have been married since 1972.] My decision to retire was personal, not a rejection of the job of band director.

Q: What is your relationship with Cary Band Day? I've always attended. I am especially amazed at the effort of the parents and band boosters. None of the event would be possible without the parents and boosters supporting it. Cary Band Day is truly a tribute to our community.