Mr. Leroy Lubin is a trumpet performer for bands, commercials, TV shows, the Grammys, and the Oscars. At LACES, he is most recognized as a fourth-year music teacher, and shared his story with LACES Untied.
“I started playing music when I was 14, which was my first year of high school, which is pretty late,” he said. “Most people I went to college with had been playing since they were in elementary school.”
Lubin did not find interest in music until his mom stopped allowing him to play sports.
“I played basketball in middle school and wanted to play for high school,” said Lubin. “I already knew the coach and some players, but my mom said no because she didn’t want me to get hurt.”
While Lubin was looking for extracurricular activities to fill his time, a conversation with a friend started his journey in music.
“[My friend] was in a band, played the trumpet, and was like, ‘Why don’t you just try it out?’” said Lubin. “And I was like, ‘Well, I’ve never played an instrument.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, you know our band director doesn’t mind starting from scratch, and we have a lot of fun. If you don’t like it, you can just quit.’” I tried it out, and I ended up staying.”
An event called “Solos and Ensembles” made Lubin take music seriously. In this event, students prepared a solo or a small ensemble and performed it in front of judges.
“I went in there and completely embarrassed myself because I didn’t practice,” Lubin said. “I think I learned the first line, and it was a full page of music, and I only knew a few measures, so I went in there to play, and my hand was shaking. I couldn’t even hold the instrument, so I started playing and sounded so bad.”
Lubin recalled receiving constructive criticism from the judge.
“The judge looked at me, which felt like an hour, probably 10 seconds. I can see him just thinking about what he should say to this kid who can either motivate my life or make me cry. At that moment, he just let me know I embarrassed myself and my teacher, program, and family. Which kinda broke me down, but he built me back up and told me what I should do to not do that again.”
This event motivated him to try harder and landed him leadership positions during his junior and senior years of high school.
Upon graduating high school, he continued his education by earning a bachelor’s degree in music educatoin at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and his master’s degree in trumpet performance from the University of Florida. When Lubin started teaching music to students, he found it was a prolonged process.
“A lot of people think that they’ll be able to pick up an instrument and make a sound immediately or be able to play their first scale in the first month,” he said. “But what they don’t realize is that I could spend a week in one class on one note.”
Although the process of learning a song is long and tedious, Lubin enjoys the ability to rehearse with different ensembles every day.
“I have a concert band, jazz band, three orchestras, and a music production class,” said Lubin. “It’s a blessing because not every music teacher can have a full day of music.”
Aside from being a music teacher, Lubin’s proudest accomplishments are performing for the Grammy and Academy Awards ceremonies.
“Getting on that stage and seeing all those people and performing with some of the people you looked up to for years, and when you finally get to go on stage with them, it’s a great feeling,” said Lubin. “You are just having fun.”
While accomplishing his dream of performing on big stages, Lubin has more in mind for his LACES students.
“When it comes to education, I plan on inspiring the next generation to pursue music, to learn how to play instruments or produce whatever they want to do with their music,” said Lubin. “Whatever the capacity, whether it’s in the classroom or not.”
He continued to list his own goals within his growth in music.
“When it comes to my personal projects, I just want to improve my instrument and maybe eventually write more for different projects,” said Lubin. “But my main goal for the future is to continue performing and playing more in film soundtracks like in a movie orchestra.” λ
