Derek Limback is currently the band director at St. James Missouri where he teaches grades 6-12 instrumental music. He holds a BS in Music Education and a Masters in Music Composition from Missouri State University. He has also studied at the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Central Missouri. Mr. Limback began his professional teaching career as the band director at Warsaw Missouri before returning to MSU for graduate studies. After beginning his teaching career at St. James he also was the Director of Jazz Studies at Missouri S&T in Rolla.
He is an active performer, clinician, and composer. His main areas of interest are instrumental composition, jazz composition and performance, and teaching music. Mr. Limback has written music for various schools and universities in Missouri and has had music performed in Arkansas, Texas, and Kansas. In his spare time he likes to golf, fly fish, hunt arrowheads, and spend time with his family.
I like to write music for a myriad of different ages and groups. My teaching job allows (sometimes forces) me to write music for my different ensembles, occasions, and ability levels. It is such a joy writing music for people to play and hear. I do enjoy contemporary sounds and finding ways to introduce some of the newer compositional techniques to musicians. I specifically like to write wind band music that penetrates the listener’s ear and evokes the tactile senses. I want the audience to leave having felt the music, the thickness, the pulse, and the texture. I also enjoy writing programmatic music and music that solicits an emotional response. Whether it be joy, sadness, remorse, or anger, all audience members have felt these things so they can relate to them through sound. After a composition has been performed, I hope the performers and listeners will leave with a vivid memory of the piece, how it made them feel, and I hope they enjoyed the experience. – Derek Limback