Haynie, John J., 1924-2014

John Haynie was born in Ralls, Texas in 1924. His family lived in Ralls and Breckenridge, and later moved to Cisco, where John attended Cisco schools in the second through eighth grades. He began playing the cornet at age nine when a friend of his grandfather's stopped by to visit and made John a gift of the cornet he'd brought with him. John made rapid progress on his own, sounding out the hymns he heard in church before he could even read music.

His grandmother recognized that his was a special talent, and she engaged the Cisco High School band director, G. C. Collum, to give John more formal lessons. Nannie insisted that she pay for the lessons, and a fee of ten cents per lesson was agreed upon! When Collum left Cisco for another band program, Robert Maddox was hired. This was the turning point for John, because it was Robert Maddox who instilled the love of music and the discipline to succeed that Haynie would later pass on to his own students.

When Cisco High band director Robert Maddox relocated to Mexia in 1939, John lost interest in music. His skill as a child cornet prodigy was well-known throughout Texas, and Maddox could think of only one solution to keep John focused on music - to have John could come to Mexia and live with his family.

The Haynies agreed, and John attended Mexia High School his sophomore, junior, and senior years. He was named "Who's Who in Texas High Schools" and graduated with honors in 1942. After graduation, he enrolled at Texas Tech, staying for one semester before entering military service in May, 1943.

Upon his discharge in November, 1945, he was awarded the Good Conduct
Medal in Battle, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Theater Medal, and the European Theater Medal with three battle stars. He continued his education at Texas Tech for one year before transferring to the University of Illinois. There he received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees, and graduated in Spring 1950 It was also there that he met his future wife, Marilyn Hindsley.

John Haynie was hired by then North Texas State College in July 1950 for a six-week summer session. In effect, it was a six-week audition, which he passed with flying colors. In the late 1950s, he made two commercial recordings of trumpet contest music (these and two other CDs of live performances have recently been re-released by Pender's Music. His research about the inner workings of the oral cavity when playing the trumpet, with Denton [radiologist] Dr. Alexander Finlay, brought further international recognition. To expose his students to the best performers world-wide, he brought the French trumpet virtuoso Maurice Andre and the premiere Russian soloist Timofei Dokschitzer to Denton. Realizing the shortcomings of the trumpet literature needed by his students, he wrote three method books:
Development and Maintenance, Twelve Study Groups, and High Notes, Low
Notes, and All Those In-between, all still used today.

John Haynie taught at the University of North Texas from 1950-1990. During that time he received the 'Fessor Graham Award (1984), which is presented annually to the faculty member voted most outstanding by the North Texas student body. He also received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Illinois School of Music (1991) and the Lifetime Achievement Award from The North Texan magazine (2006). In Fall 2006, Cisco High School dedicated its new music facility - the J. J. Haynie Band Hall. In February 2007, the University of North Texas Press released his book, Inside John Haynie's Studio: A Master Teacher's Lessons on Trumpet and Life, a
collection of teaching and autobiographical essays. His most recent honor came in March 2007, when the American Bandmasters Association awarded him the Edwin Franko Goldman Memorial Citation by the American Bandmasters Association. The citation is awarded to a non-ABA member who has made significant contributions to bands or to music education.

From: International Trumpet Guild
Lifetime Achievement members

John James Haynie, 89, Professor Emeritus of music, died Sept. 30 in Denton. He joined the music faculty in 1950 and served as professor of trumpet for 40 years, renowned for his virtuoso solos and innovative instruction. His pioneering research in the field of video-fluoroscopic studies, in which he used moving X-ray images with sound to learn more about trumpet-playing mechanics, influenced trumpet pedagogy. In 1984, he earned the ’Fessor Graham Award, the highest honor given by the student body, and in 1996, he received UNT’s Honorary Alumnus Award. Other honors included the Award of Merit from the International Trumpet Guild and the Edwin Franko Goldman Memorial Citation from the American Bandmasters Association. In Cisco, the town where he grew up, the J.J. Haynie Band Hall was named in his honor. Haynie wrote three method books for trumpet and in 2007 published Inside John Haynie’s Studio: A Master Teacher’s Lessons on Trumpet and Life (UNT Press). When he retired in 1990, the publishing house Alphonse Leduc gave him individual copies of its entire library of trumpet works, which he donated to the UNT Libraries. Haynie, who began playing a bugle at the age of 5, was considered a cornet prodigy. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and after playing solos for War Bond tours across Wisconsin, participated in the Battle of the Bulge. He later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois.

John Haynie, professor emeritus of trumpet at the University of North Texas (Denton), died peacefully at home Tuesday night, September 30, surrounded by his loving family.

John Haynie was born in Ralls, Texas on December 14, 1924. He began playing the cornet at age nine. He was much acclaimed in Texas as a child prodigy, and played in the Cisco High School Band while still in elementary school. He participated in his first Texas All-State Band in 1937, and the guest conductor was the Director of the University of Illinois bands, Mark Hindsley, who would later become John’s father-in-law. When Cisco band director Robert Maddox moved to Mexia, Texas, John’s parents knew any musical talent he had would flourish with Mr. Maddox, and they allowed him to move from Cisco to Mexia to live with the Maddox family. He was named “Who’s Who in Texas High Schools” and was featured on the cover of the 1941 Texas Music Educators convention issue when he was sixteen. He graduated from Mexia High School with honors in 1942. He served in the U.S. Army from May 1943 to November 1945, and he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal in Battle, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Theater Medal, and the European Theater Medal with three battle stars. He then continued at the University of Illinois, where he received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and graduated in Spring 1950. It was also there that he met Marilyn Hindsley and they were married in August 1951.

John Haynie taught at the University of North Texas from 1950-1990. His research about the inner workings of the oral cavity when playing the trumpet, with Denton radiology Dr. Alexander Finlay, brought further international recognition During that time he received the ’Fessor Graham Award (1984), which is presented annually to the faculty member voted most outstanding by the North Texas student body. He also received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Illinois School of Music (1991), the International Trumpet Guild Award of Merit (2003), and the Lifetime Achievement Award from The North Texan magazine (2006). In Fall 2006, Cisco High School dedicated its new music facility – the J. J. Haynie Band Hall. In March 2007, he was awarded the Edwin Franko Goldman Memorial Citation by the American Bandmasters Association.

He was the author of two method books: How to Play High Notes, Low Notes, and All Those In Between (New York: Charles Colin, n.d.) and Twelve Study Groups (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1972); also the author of Inside John Haynie’s Studio: A Master Teacher’s Lessons on Trumpet and Life. (Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press, 2007). An article celebrating his career, “Portrait of a Teacher: John J. Haynie,” appeared in the June 2008 ITG Journal.

Keith Johnson, recently retired Regents Professor of Music at UNT said this: “John Haynie exemplified all the qualities of dedication, integrity, courage, and loyalty that should be the hallmark of anyone who claims to be a teacher of young people. This man was the stuff of legend, and the effects of his brilliant career will reach far beyond anything we can imagine. To have the privilege of studying and working with him is to have been in the presence of greatness.”

He is survived by his wife Marilyn, daughter Melinda and son-in-law Dave Zeagler, son Mark and daughter-in-law Anne, four grandchildren, and several great grandchildren.

Services will be held on at the First Presbyterian Church in Denton, Texas on October 3 at 3:00. Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church or the John and Marilyn Haynie Endowment Fund, College of Music, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76203.

Source: Anne Hardin, former ITG Journal Editor, Greenville, SC