Reporter Volume 26, No.5 October 6, 1994

By STEVE COX
Reporter Staff
In many ways, J. Terry Gates' professional life has mirrored that of
Professor Harold Hill, who, of course, rode into towns like River City
on the Wells Fargo Wagon urging young people to drop their pool cues
and pick up band instruments.
	A professor in the Music Department since 1986, for 36 years
Gates has made it his musical mission to teach high school and college
students to value music, as well as to seek out and train music
teachers of tomorrow.
	Now chair of the Music Department at UB, Gates sees great
things ahead as several long-vacant positions have been filled,
departmental enrollment is on the rise and the new Center for the Arts
greatly expands the types of performances the department can offer.
	"We have two new faculty members," Gates said, "including a
Director of Bands, which we have been without since 1988."  This will
enable the department to offer a wider variety of performance venues,
such as jazz and wind ensembles, he added. Also, the Center for the
Arts will allow the department to offer full orchestra and large
chorus performances, something there simply wasn't room to do in Slee
Hall, said Gates.
	The new center will enable UB to strengthen its relationship
with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Gates explained. "Many of our
part-time faculty are members of BPO, and BPO will be able to hold
several concerts here in the Center."
	The music education program, the only one offered in the SUNY
system, will be able to accommodate more students and offer more
student teaching placements, said Gates. Currently, about half the 130
undergrads in the music department are pursuing music education, he
said.
	Gates' influence in music education extends well beyond Baird
Hall. He is very active in the Music Educators National Conference, a
national organization of music teachers, and leads a curriculum
reassessment study known as Operation Music: New York State (OMNYS),
sponsored by music teachers statewide, through the New York State
Music Association.
	OMNYS is a statewide curriculum assessment process that will
inventory the resources of music departments statewide, then
promulgate recommendations for improving the quality and scope of
music education in public schools.
	Gates says the goal of OMNYS is "to raise awareness of music
in public schools. New York has more world class music resources than
any other state and we feel strongly that students should receive
intelligent exposure to music."
	Born in suburban Chicago, Gates has an affection for music
that is deep-seated. "I remember being three or four years old,"
recalls Gates, "enjoying how music sounded and the effect it had on
me." By high school, he already was planning a career in music.
lthough his performance in
	discus throwing shattered local records and earned him a
college scholarship offer, Gates chose the performing arts, attending
Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. There, he earned a bachelor's
degree in instrumental music education and a master's degree in
composition and music education supervision. He subsequently obtained
his doctorate in education from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
	Prior to coming to UB, Gates taught at Muskigum College and
Ohio State University in Ohio as well as the University of Alabama in
Tuscaloosa. Much of his experience was as an instrumental music
conductor, with orchestras or wind ensembles. Gates also taught music
in elementary and secondary schools in Illinois. 
	Linking musical expression to rich cultural values, Gates
cautions "we should value our live musical atmosphere."
	"If it hardens up, people stop hearing each other, the culture
suffers." Besides, he adds, "the great thing about music is if you
don't like what you hear, you can simply turn the dial."
	Gates' first book, Music Education in the United States:
Contemporary Issues, was published by University of Alabama Press in
1988. He has another book in the works on music teaching.