Professor Charles Lewis is a current UT Martin lecturer in the music department. However, his career goes far beyond being a lecturer and a familiar face one may see around campus.
He has decades of musical experience playing all around the states at the highest levels. During his time, he has picked up many accolades along with prestigious positions in the symphonies he has played in.
Lewis did not begin his musical career as a superstar prodigy. He found himself with a tough decision to make.
Lewis said, “It was sixth grade when I began and we had to take PE, and we were playing basketball and I couldn’t get the basketball into the net. So you know, kids started making fun of me and were beginning to bully me. So one way of getting out of PE was to be in the band because they met at the same time.”
With Lewis currently only in the band as a way to escape from the treatment of his classmates, he began to grow more intrigued with the world of music.
Lewis said, “The WTSBOA, West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, sponsors the All-State West bands. You could audition for those based on your performance. You would get to go and play in this band, and it was prestigious for us in school to be selected for that. It’s kind of like the way athletes are selected to all-state and all-conference players in high school.”
Lewis had begun practicing more and more to be able to make it into this orchestra and prove to himself that he was the best at what he was doing. During this time, he also began to realize the financial gain that he could also get from performing in orchestras.
Lewis said, “But I got to the point where I really enjoyed performing. I guess it was not until I got to college, that I realized that it could be financially beneficial to me. It was something I was good at and I realized I could receive a scholarship for being a music major.”
Lewis went on to discuss some of his many inspirations for becoming a flute player along with why he chose to continue playing after high school and college.
Lewis said, “I got first place and as a result, I got to play for an internationally renowned flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal. He was one of the people who brought the flute to the forefront of American culture in the mid-1950s, 60-70s. He would tour the country and I got an opportunity to go hear him play in person. I also had the opportunity to play the master class for him. I was imitating everything he was doing, and that’s exactly what you want in a student. A student that’s able to take the information that’s given at hand immediately, and do something with it. I was able to do that and he was very impressed. He told me that I should go to New York and study with the flute teacher there, Juilliard Julius Baker, and I got a chance to play for him in a master class. Something similar to what I had done with Jean-Pierre Rampal, after I graduated from UTM he invited me to come to New York and study with him.”
After years of traveling around the country playing in different orchestras, Lewis finally decided to settle down back in west Tennessee, getting his doctorate. During this time, he would get the opportunity to come back and teach at UT Martin in a temporary position. After a few semesters, he would get the opportunity to become a full-time lecturer. This would be a big change for him because he is still actively playing in the Jackson orchestra.
Lewis said, “I have to still practice and practice regularly. I’m still working on my technique. I still practice with the Metronome every day. As the principal flute in the Jackson Symphony, each and every time I sit on stage and play in that orchestra, my job is on the line, I mean, there’s somebody waiting to take it and so I have to keep practicing to stay in shape if I take time off at the end of that time off, I can really tell that I mean, I’m really out of shape.”
Lewis went on to discuss how the students he interacts with daily help him better himself, not only when it comes to music, but also in general evolution with the times.
Lewis said, “I’ll ask a question and somebody will just out of the blue, say something that I’ve never thought of before and it puts a new light on things.”
Lewis finished off by leaving the readers with a word of advice.
Lewis said, “Don’t give up on your dreams, no matter what they are, you never know who you’re gonna meet that right person or if you’re gonna have that right connection, and a lot of times it’s about timing. It’s about it and about who you surround yourself with. It’s not necessarily how much you have.”