I still have fond memories from grade nine music with Ozzie. He would often come to class prepared with a few jokes, in case the class needed waking up. Some of these jokes we could not tell our parents when we got home, if you know what I mean.
We always had a good time in Ozzie's class. I'm sure his enthusiasm is part of the reason I ended up making music my career. He chose the flute as my instrument (it was initially my third choice), and I am still playing and teaching flute 37(!) years later.
Ozzie always gave 200% as a teacher, and it was infectious to everyone around him. What a great way to start a career in music.
I shocked a few years ago to hear of the passing of Ozzie. I had been to his house several months before to visit and thank him for what he had instilled in me. Thanks to him and his persistance and insistance I was able to start a band in an Air Cadet Squadron and be able to run it and also teach many of the cadets. In its first competition the Band placed 4th at the Regional Cadet marching band Comp.
After that was when I went to his house to thank him for his work many years ago that allowed this to happen.
He will always have a place in my heart and I'm sure in the hearts of many others.
My music teachers were very dear to me. Mr Phaff at Glenhaven and Mr. Brezdan at Glenforest are the two standouts. Each in their own way helped shape me into the man I am today.
By the time I was in the 13th grade I was pooped. I found the same ol' school routine to be mentally exhausting. So, after the December mid-terms I quit. I lived at home and got a full time job at Sam the Record Man at Sherway Gardens. I was so full of myself at the time I thought I had hit the big time. A family friend intervened where my parents did not, and by April she had convinced me of my short sightedness.
Wth all my friends and classmates now graduated I felt it would be best to go to a different high school, thinking a different school might help me stay focused. Back then, if you wanted to change high schools the new school had to offer a class the previous school didn't. I transfered to Port Credit Secondary on the completely made up reason that I wanted to take theater arts. A least likely 'actor' there never was. I also signed up for music because I heard Port Credit had this new teacher who led a really cool jazz band. My passion was playing jazz bass, so it seemed like it was destiny.
On my first day of classes at Port Credit Secondary I walked into the classroom and saw ....Mr. Brezdan! It was like old home week. That final year of high school with Mr. Brezdan was the best year of my life up to that point. More than any other, he helped fan my interest in jazz composition and arranging, and he also helped me with my application to Boston's Berklee College of Music. I passed my audition, and was accepted, but ultimately had to turn down the offer of acceptance because my parents and I could not afford the tuition.
But I will never forget that final year of high school wth Mr. Brezdan. He was, and remains, someone of great importance in my life. Then. And now. God bless you sir!
Elizabeth Rutter (Fleming) (1977)
I still have fond memories from grade nine music with Ozzie. He would often come to class prepared with a few jokes, in case the class needed waking up. Some of these jokes we could not tell our parents when we got home, if you know what I mean.We always had a good time in Ozzie's class. I'm sure his enthusiasm is part of the reason I ended up making music my career. He chose the flute as my instrument (it was initially my third choice), and I am still playing and teaching flute 37(!) years later.
Ozzie always gave 200% as a teacher, and it was infectious to everyone around him. What a great way to start a career in music.
Andrew Adamczak (1974)
I shocked a few years ago to hear of the passing of Ozzie. I had been to his house several months before to visit and thank him for what he had instilled in me. Thanks to him and his persistance and insistance I was able to start a band in an Air Cadet Squadron and be able to run it and also teach many of the cadets. In its first competition the Band placed 4th at the Regional Cadet marching band Comp.After that was when I went to his house to thank him for his work many years ago that allowed this to happen.
He will always have a place in my heart and I'm sure in the hearts of many others.
Jim Wicks (1974)
My music teachers were very dear to me. Mr Phaff at Glenhaven and Mr. Brezdan at Glenforest are the two standouts. Each in their own way helped shape me into the man I am today.
By the time I was in the 13th grade I was pooped. I found the same ol' school routine to be mentally exhausting. So, after the December mid-terms I quit. I lived at home and got a full time job at Sam the Record Man at Sherway Gardens. I was so full of myself at the time I thought I had hit the big time. A family friend intervened where my parents did not, and by April she had convinced me of my short sightedness.
Wth all my friends and classmates now graduated I felt it would be best to go to a different high school, thinking a different school might help me stay focused. Back then, if you wanted to change high schools the new school had to offer a class the previous school didn't. I transfered to Port Credit Secondary on the completely made up reason that I wanted to take theater arts. A least likely 'actor' there never was. I also signed up for music because I heard Port Credit had this new teacher who led a really cool jazz band. My passion was playing jazz bass, so it seemed like it was destiny.
On my first day of classes at Port Credit Secondary I walked into the classroom and saw ....Mr. Brezdan! It was like old home week. That final year of high school with Mr. Brezdan was the best year of my life up to that point. More than any other, he helped fan my interest in jazz composition and arranging, and he also helped me with my application to Boston's Berklee College of Music. I passed my audition, and was accepted, but ultimately had to turn down the offer of acceptance because my parents and I could not afford the tuition.
But I will never forget that final year of high school wth Mr. Brezdan. He was, and remains, someone of great importance in my life. Then. And now. God bless you sir!