Wildcard CV ("in the sense of…") 2021
Drake Mabry
Email: mabry22@gmail.com
Telephone: +33 625587663
Nice, Côte d'Azur, France
1950-1962 Growing up without an anchor. Iowa City, Iowa to Burlington, Vermont
Lived in 14 houses (and once in a barracks) by the time I was 12
Learned to adapt (new classmates, neighborhoods, climate)
Independence and creativity
1953 Seeing a mysterious light in the distance while in the car with my father. It eventually
enveloped us. It scared me. He turned around. 3 years old, Duluth, Minnesota
1958 First Summer with grandparents in Norwich, England
Being American and astounded to see a church built in the 12th century
1960 First job requiring a social security card
Giving away deep-fried scallops on the street corner for the opening of a new
fish restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky
1962 Second summer with grandparents in Norwich, England
Living with a different culture
1963-1967 Surviving the complex years of Junior and Senior High School
Burlington, Vermont, Lake Champlain, oboe lessons in Montreal, Canada
1967-1971 Bachelor of Music degree (Oboe)
Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School of Music, New York City
Music, clumsy dating, New York, Siena, Italy & Vermont, marriage
1967-1968 Admar Research
Coding and analyzing of the effectiveness of candy bar wrappers
Part-time job while a student in New York
1970 Night watchman for the Riverside Church, New York City
Staying awake, overlapping time with the custodian and his wisdom
NYC at night from the roof of the church building next door
1971-1974 First marriage, ending in friendly divorce
1972-1975 Principal oboe, San Antonio Symphony
Head of department (2nd oboe and English horn)
Working together in a team of 90 - sense of unity
Hearing your sound float over the orchestra into space during long solos
1976-1978 Master of Music Degree, Rice University, Houston, Texas (Composition)
Music, music, music, living as an educational sponge, Straight A's
1977 Tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet and oboe - Aspen Jazz Ensemble, Colorado
Jazz oboe solo
Working towards a common goal as a 16-piece big band
Unwritten aspect of feeling and phrasing
1978-1980 Los Angeles Consulting Group, Reeve Darling, owner
Working in diverse situations including taking secret documents to the Hughes
Aircraft Organization, helping companies in difficulty and entertaining new clients
at the Los Angeles Playboy club
Rented a room at the house of Reeve and his wife in exchange for free room and
board serving as a health backup in case the two health assistants were indisposed
1979 Delivered the Los Angeles Times 3-7 am
courage, heavy Sunday paper, walking, finding addresses in the dark,
tossing papers up to balconies without damaging hanging plants, human insights
1980-1983 Ph.D. in music at the University of California, San Diego (Composition)
Music, Learning, Straight A's, San Diego Symphony, endless opportunities
1981-1983 Record producer for Philo Records, The Songs of Robert Burns arranged by Serge
Hovey and sung by Jean Redpath
Best of the Month and Best of the Year record awards
1983-1988 Second marriage, ending in friendly divorce
1983-1984 Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
First teaching job, long preparation of classes, chance opportunity to go to Paris
for a year
1984-1985 Musical year in Paris, France
Concerts, Museums, Paris, Giverny, Urban Sax, discovery, green beans
1986-1988 Drake Mabry Reed Supplies, Westford, Massachusetts
Running a business, filling orders, Nabnasset Lake, squirrel family, Halley's comet
1988-2016 Ministry of Culture, France
Chosen to be a member of juries for the CA, DE and DUMI diplomas for all
instruments. I was their wildcard jury member. Also wrote short pieces of music to
be used in the BAC exams, music specialty. This included classical music, jazz and
"musique actuelle" styles
1990-2010 Third marriage, ending in friendly divorce
1999-2007 Director, CEFEDEM Poitiers, France – a teacher training school
No fill-in mold for teaching but students were given the tools from which they could
create their own teaching style which would evolve over time and experience.
Took a classically oriented school and added jazz, traditional music and pop music
called "musiques actuelles" by the French government.
Irish, Australian and Vietnamese governments sent commissions to study my school
98% of my students found work after graduation.
Chosen among the ten directors of CEFEDEMs in France to represent CEFEDEM for
a Ministry of Culture project to create a European curriculum for BM, MM and Phd
degree programs for all instruments, music school directors and sound engineers and
in all musical styles for the Ministry of Culture. The commission consisted of five
representatives of educational systems in France – universities, music schools, Paris Conservatory, CFMIs and CEFEDEMs.
Being fired in 2006. The 115 documents of support from teachers, former students,
conservatory of music directors and the Ministry of Culture attested to my abilities as an administrator, musician, pedagogue as well as my heightened sense of humanity.
I won my lawsuit in 2010
2010-2021 Travels:
Egypt, New Zealand, Istanbul, Mexico, USA, England, Casablanca, Athens, Italy,
Germany, Spain, China, Fiji, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria
Liechtenstein and Canada
2011- Taking ney and ebru lessons in Istanbul and meeting the Sufi community
An on-going activity of entering into the Sufi world of the ney and ebru which
provides me with new ways of learning to learn, patience, perseverance, and
enjoyment of an instrument that is considered the most difficult to play. It's not an
instrument to master but instead, invites the player into a partnership based on feeling
and connection. Playing inside the notes opens up a colorful, meaningful parallel
world that when combined with "this" world, creates unlimited richness and
enlightenment. All of this resulted in my writing a guidebook on how to play the ney
with new, 21st century techniques.
If my house burned down, I would grab my neys
Spending my time:
Composing – beginning with a blank page and eventually filling it in
Preparation, imagination, craftsmanship
Art – Chinese brush painting and Turkish ebru (painting on water)
Preparation, patience, imagination and diligence, breaking the rules
Photography - looking for lines, angles and light in urban and rural settings
Seeing the expected in surprising places, seeing the unexpected in normal
places Nikon F2, Sony, Leica digital B&W
Poetry - capturing the moment
Also:
Playing with a lion cub, sleeping on the back of a horse during lunchbreak, being
monitored by the family dog and its collar bell when I would wander off, even into
dense woods
This is the CV that I always dreamed of writing, highlighting the truly important moments in my life.