We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Derek Hebert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Derek, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
One of the more meaningful projects I’ve gotten to work on as a part of the Mile High Freedom Bands is our MHFB Youth program. In 2018 and 2019, we started trialing the program meant to bring together LGBTQ+ and allies high school musicians in a safe space where they could be themselves, be supported, and make music together. We had high ambitions for the 2020 program that got smashed by COVID. This year in 2022, we’re finally ready to make it happen again.
Derek, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’ve been a musician most of my life, ever since picking up a trombone for the first time in fifth grade band way back when. It was in 2012 at a fairly low point in my career that I found the Mile High Freedom Bands. Almost immediately the group became like a second family. When the group began searching for a new director, it made me consider what I wanted my role to be and eventually I went for the job. Since the spring of 2014, I’ve been MHFB’s Artistic Director. In these past almost-ten years, I’ve gotten to have experiences like I could not have imagined. I’ve met so many amazing people and musicians, I’ve gotten to get out into the community and help spread a message of belonging and inclusion, and I’ve gotten to be a part of so many incredible programs. A few years ago, we began a commissioning project to find new composers with historically marginalized backgrounds and premiere their music, we’ve partnered with a number of local organizations including The Center and other arts groups like the Denver Woman’s Chorus, and now we’re making our next big push into getting our MHFB Youth program jump started again. We’ve also been selected to host the 2023 conference of the international Pride Bands Alliance, which will bring around 500 LGBTQ+ musicians and folks to Denver for a weekend of music.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Music quite literally saved my life. Coming to terms with being gay was a very hard struggle for me, leading almost to the point of suicide. The one dream that kept me going was I wanted to be a musician and I wanted to teach music and I wanted band in my life. Eventually I came to the point where I now basically “do band” all day every day! I know I’m not alone feeling like band was my place and the people there were my people. One thing that drives me more than almost anything else is ensuring that I am helping to create a musical space where other people can find that belonging and find that support and do something they love while being completely true to who they are.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
There’s a two-fold answer to this. For one, I can connect to the music that I’m a part of in an intensely personal way. I do it for me and for the fulfillment I get from playing and creating on my own. On the other side, the feeling at the end of a performance with an entire room full of people is almost unbeatable. The idea that all 80-100 people can come together from wildly different backgrounds, feelings, skills, and intents, and create this incredible music together with one voice is something I don’t think can be matched by anything else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://MHFB.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/milehighfreedomband
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/MHFBtv