Welcome Our New Director of the CAYA Band and Choir, Len Bobinski
Sound the trumpets, crash the cymbals, ring the bells and raise your voices in joyful song because we have something BIG to celebrate. Len Bobinski has agreed to step up as our new Director of the CAYA band and choir.
This is exciting news. Len is an extraordinary musician whose talents have enhanced our services for years. “And what instrument does he play?” you ask. He plays them all! Give Len an instrument, be it woodwind, brass, strings, percussion, keyboard, or bells….he is a quick study and has become accomplished in them all. His electronic musical hocus-pocus adds to his multi-faceted equation. Will his challenge be voices? If so, he will undoubtedly rise to the occasion with the CAYA band and choir.
Len’s qualifications are unique. He grew up in a musical family and every family gathering featured spontaneous jam sessions. He learned accordion from his father, took organ lessons at a young age, then learned trumpet, euphonium, piano, and electric bass guitar in high school. From the age of about 10, he worked in his maternal grandparents’ music shop in New Britain where he learned to repair instruments, and taught himself to play woodwinds, brass, and string bass. With characteristic modesty, Len says he never mastered bow technique, so just plucked the strings of that bass.
Following a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the Hartt School of Music, his first job was teaching and conducting choral music. Len went on to teach instrumental music in elementary and high school as well as playing instrumental music at churches. When marriage to Amy and boys Lenny and Skyler came along, he parlayed his interest in math and computing into a career in computer programming. He continues playing bass guitar and singing in various bands, including the Carrie Johnson Band and the Steve O’Brien Band.
Len is everywhere at SUM: he plays in the CAYA band and was interim director in 2022, plays in the Bell Choir, sings in Chancel Choir when needed, and uses his combined computing and music knowledge to great effect as a member of the Tech Dream Team. He says that the people of SUM are its’ greatest asset. Len’s proudest accomplishment? His family.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, welcome Len (and thank Amy)!
- Beth Nelson & Karen Matheson