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Running with the Music
By Connie Daugherty Helena’s Robert Loveridge runs with the music in every way possible. “I have a built in IPod in my head,” he jokes. Rob isn’t a big man – he’s slight of stature, soft spoken, and would not stand out in a crowd. That is until he steps up on that platform in front of 200+ band students and picks up the baton, until he pulls away from the pack at
the finish line of another marathon, or until you really look into his eyes and listen to his words. Then you know there is something extraordinary about this seemingly ordinary man. What is extraordinary about Rob Loveridge is what he does within the bounds of the ordinary – making him so awesome – his personal favorite word. Also, that is why he was chosen by his fellow teachers as Helena’s 2014 Teacher of the Year. Robert Loveridge was born in Billings, raised there, went to college there, met his wife, Brooke, and started a family there. Ordinary? Not quite. He started playing trumpet in fourth grade. “I just loved it,” he says. “It was something I could do really well.” That is a bit of an understatement. Rob made all-state band each of his three years in high school. Then he was chosen to join an All American band sponsored by the Shenandoah Music Conservatory in Virginia. The band, made up of students from all over the country, toured a dozen European countries doing community concerts and USO shows that summer. “It was a great experience, he says. Back in Montana, he started college and continued to play his trumpet. He played in the Billings City Symphony as well as the college band, and continued to compete and perform around the region. In his senior year, he had an opportunity to go to Romania. “I said I would go if Brooke could go too,” he says. Those in charge agreed so the young couple spent a month touring Romania. “That was a good time,” he recalls. Rob credits much of his success as a musician to the people who crossed his path during those years – teachers and professional musicians. “I’ve been influenced by great people all along the way,” he says. While college offered him exceptional (Continued on page 37)