Musical Piece to Honor Career of Steve Massey

FOXBOROUGH, MA — During a weekend of surprises, Foxborough music enthusiasts learned that the man who spent decades teaching music in town will now have a song created for him.

Saturday night, former Foxborough High School music educator George Murphy announced at Foxborough Pops that a musical piece will be made in honor of the career of Foxborough Music Director Steve Massey, who will enter retirement at the end of the school year.

The piece is sponsored by the Foxborough Music Association, with a consortium of several schools, including one as far as Australia, contributing to the creation.

“The only way we could we could think of (to honor Massey) is music, something to do with music. So we commissioned a piece,” Murphy said.

Dan Bukvich of the University of Idaho, who is known to Foxborough music as the writer of the America medley and Celebrate Celebration, the song made for the 25th anniversary of FMA, will be the conductor. Bukvich, who considers Massey a mentor, didn’t need any convincing once he head news of Massey’s upcoming retirement.

“I said we really want you to be apart of it and he said ‘I’d do anything for Steve Massey. You just name it and it’s done,’” Murphy told the crowd at Pops.

In their conversation, Buckich told Murphy, “In all of my years of teaching and around students, I've never met anyone who has had the impact that Steve Massey has had on students in any capacity.”

The piece will be a wind band piece with a jazz slant, meaning that a jazz ensemble inserted to combine Massey’s two loves.

The piece is expected to be ready in February, with a spring debut in Foxborough. Its creation will be chronicled by Foxborough Cable Access.

Image via Foxborough Cable Access