So long, Lawrenson: Placer High School gives retiring music director a sendoff

Placer High School's music community came together Saturday afternoon to thank retiring music director David Lawrenson with a mix of music and memories. The packed school theater included old friends from Yelm, Washington, which Lawrenson left to come to Auburn. He spent the last 20 of his 39 total years in music education at Placer. "Thanks Yelmites for coming," Lawrenson said in the courtyard following a performance by the Hillmen pep band. "My time in Yelm was transformatory. Everything I am here is probably because of Yelm. I never wanted to leave, but I found my home here. "It's been a great career; 39 years of teaching is an amazing thing. But it's really having students who are receptive, parents who want to work and administrators that are willing to put up with me and my idiosyncracies. I am so blessed to have all of you here with me today." Many of the speakers and performers are Placer graduates who have gone on to play in college, military and rock bands. They're current students in college who aspire to be music educators, like the mentor Lawrenson was and still is to them. Michael Buckman composed "The Many Faces of David Lawrenson" for a saxophone quartet featuring Janos Csontos (soprano sax), Andrea Winford (baritone) and Clayton Buck (alto) with Buckman playing tenor. All are Placer graduates except Buck, who worked with Lawrenson on small ensembles, according to Buckman. There were several other performances, some of which featured Lawrenson's son, Seth, and the PHS alumni chamber choir. Lawrenson plans to see Rush on opening night of its upcoming Fifty Something Tour and said to Csontos, "Yanos, I will never see Rush in the same way again. Thank you all for the music, for playing, for being here." The Placer pep band deserves credit for several assists to the basketball team over the years, not for finding an open man for a layup, obviously, but Hall of Fame coach Mark Lee pointed out the band's effect during games – not on the Hillmen but on the visiting team. "So if you're at a basketball game and Placer called a time out, (the band would) play nice and soft. But if the opponent called time out, he'd point," Lee said of Lawrenson pointing emphatically toward the visiting team's bench so the band could blast a song at full volume. The theater portion of the tribute ended with Placer drum majors of the past 20 years going on stage to salute Lawrenson, who then joined them to conduct the whole gathering in the school alma mater. The drumline and band then led Lawrenson to the courtyard, where they played a few songs, including "Tequila," which brought shouts of "Tornados" (Yelm's mascot) instead. "Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for making this an incredible career, for making this an incredible day," Lawrenson said. "I'm actually shaking a little bit."