Growing
up in Burlington, Kansas, Gary Moege loved rock and folk
music. Inspired by his brother's example, he taught
himself to play guitar. He pursued his education in
music and performed as a member of the U.S. Air Force
Academy Band. After graduating college, he got a job at
a public grade-school in Kansas. The chance to help
students with their musical interests convinced him to
make a career of teaching. He taught guitar first at
University of Colorado-Colorado Springs while playing
professionally as a back-up and commercial guitarist,
before joining the UCM faculty in 1981. Dr. Moege has
had several guitar solo compositions published, and his
method book for guitar is used at the university level.
He also conducts the guitar ensemble at UCM. Dr. Moege's accomplishments on the guitar would be enough for most people, even for most professors, but not for him. Because Dr. Moege is also the professor of horn at UCM. You see, as a kid, Gary didn't just love rock and folk. His father played violin and introduced him to classical music. The sound of the horn called to him, and despite its reputation for being a hard instrument to play, he was drawn further in as he explored its literature and its expressive potential. He also played horn in the U.S. Air Force Academy Band, Colorado Springs Symphony, the Mid-America Woodwind Quintet, and the Oklahoma Horn Quartet. He is a member of the UCM Brass Quintet, and the Cambiano Trio. He conducts the horn choir, and has published compositions for brass quintets. He often performs as a guest soloist with bands and orchestras in Kansas and Missouri.
An elementary education professor once told Dr. Moege that students should leave the class happier than when they came in, and he has remembered this philosophy through three decades of university teaching. He wants his students to feel good about themselves and their performance, and emphasizes the need for patience, preparation, and respect for others. A music history teacher as well, he enjoys guiding students to discover how music's historic and technical aspects can affect performance.
Being professor of both guitar and horn at UCM would surely be enough, except for one thing – Dr. Moege also loves jazz. And so, he plays guitar in the After Hours Trio, along with his colleagues, Dr. Gai and Dr. Sekelsky. The group's site reads, “In the trio, he not only chords and solos on guitar, but 'walks' a bass line. Listening to the group, one might easily think they are hearing a quartet.” It only makes sense. Dr. Moege is, in many ways, two musicians in one.