Sesquicentennial Gala Music Solo Winner a Symbol of University's Mission

Musical talent was the lone criterion in the recent competition to choose a music soloist to perform at the Illinois State University Sesquicentennial Gala Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 13.  But when it comes to personifying the University’s mission for those 150 years, a better soloist could not have been chosen than Dakota Pawlicki a senior music education major from Johnsburg, a northeastern Illinois village at the Wisconsin border.

The Gala “red-tie” dinner will be a highlight of the year-long 150th celebration and will conclude the Homecoming Day activities.  The Gala will begin at 7 p.m. in the Brown Ballroom of Bone Student Center, and Pawlicki’s tuba solo performance of Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise Opus 34, Number 14, will be one of several musical offerings.

Pawlicki is as heartfelt about teaching music to inner-city students as he is about performing music.  He has been a featured soloist with the Brass Band of Central Illinois, featured in ISU’s Wind Symphony and serves as president of the Normal Euphonium and Tuba Society.  But he also is president of campus chapters of UNITE (Urban Needs in Teacher Education), National Band Association and Golden Apple Scholars.

He auditioned for the gala solo in part because auditions and preparing for them is part of a musician’s life.  But Pawlicki had loftier reasons.

“I really enjoy the satisfaction of helping dispel myths built by presumptions or social standards,” he said.  “This whole concept transfers throughout my entire life, which is why I would like to teach in inner city Chicago.  There are just so many myths and presumptions because it’s ‘the scary inner-city,’ when in reality, most of that is not true. Tuba is another misunderstood instrument.  I believe that the tuba can be beautifully played, and it can do so many things that most people wouldn’t believe.  I also feel that the tuba is the closet instrument to the power of the human voice.”   

Pawlicki will put his award money where his mouth is.  He will donate one fourth of his $500 award to a charity that helps undocumented students pursue their dreams and attend college. 

“Most of these students were only one or two years old when their parents moved here from other countries without becoming citizens,” he said. “These students then go through the entire American education system and graduate high school, sometimes as valedictorians, and then are left without any help to receive higher education.  Since they are not legal citizens, they cannot apply for FAFSA/state aid and are not eligible for most scholarships.  This charity provides an essential gateway to deserving students who hold high standards for themselves and without help, simply cannot achieve their dreams.”

Pawlicki said he owes a large part of his success to both Patty Foltz, administrative clerk in Psychology as well as an active pianist and accompanist on campus (“the best pianist on campus,” Pawlicki said) and to Andy Rummel, his tuba teacher and mentor.