A couple of serendipitous events led Jesse Krebs to a career he loves and a place he has called home for nearly 20 years.
Jesse Krebs arrived at Truman like someone who overslept for a flight and barely made it to the airport in time. Just two weeks before classes were to start, a last-minute vacancy came up at the University, and he quickly applied. As a native of North Carolina, he wasn’t overly familiar with Missouri – and for a brief period, mistakenly thought he was applying to a school in Montana – but by the time his inaugural year was complete, Krebs was all in on his impromptu decision.
“I quickly fell in love with the campus and people at Truman. It really is a special place made up of exceptional students, dedicated professors and supportive administrators,” he said. “I honestly can’t imagine a better place to raise a family and grow as an educator, musician and scholar.”
This fall will mark 20 years Krebs has called Kirksville home. He and wife Kate have three children together, and Krebs is now a tenured professor in the Music Department. It’s a pretty charmed life considering much of it is courtesy of an instrument he never wanted to play in the first place.
“I actually wanted to play the trumpet or drums in beginning band, but my parents had recently purchased a used clarinet from a yard sale, so they convinced me to play it instead,” he said. “I was one of the worst in the band that year, and I would have quit if it wasn’t for the encouragement I received to continue from my middle school band director, Mrs. Caves.”
With Caves’ support, Krebs worked his way from second-to-last chair to North Carolina All-State Band in high school, earning a music scholarship to UNC Greensboro. He would go on to add a master’s degree and doctor of music in clarinet performance from the University of North Texas and Florida State University, respectively.
Now the student has become the teacher. In addition to his course load, Krebs conducts the Truman Clarinet Choir and coordinates weekly applied lessons with all undergraduate and graduate music students who play the clarinet.
“Unlike typical professors who might have a student in class for one semester and then never really sees them again, in applied music we have the privilege of getting to know our students in very meaningful ways over a long period of time, from recruiting them from high school, all the way through their capstone senior recital,” Krebs said. “I tell each incoming class during Truman Week that this will be a journey on which we’re about to embark together, and I’m grateful to share in that journey with each of them.”
In recent years, Krebs has been able to share the journey with students beyond the Music Department. Since 2018 he has regularly taught the Junior Interdisciplinary Seminar class “Music and Political Protest.” Along with musical selections, the course incorporates readings from a variety of authors to examine patriotism, censorship and the power of music to create a sense of unity and solidarity as both an agent and mirror of change. Since it is an interdisciplinary class, Krebs gets the opportunity to watch as students’ pessimism in exploring a topic outside of their major turns to enthusiasm.
“As we go through the semester together everything changes. They become transformed – inevitably sucked in by the exciting music and fascinating stories – with the eventual realization that music is a crucial part of what makes us human,” Krebs said. “With high expectations and positive motivation, students can be encouraged to strive for more than they ever thought was possible. And when all the facts, dates, people and places have been long forgotten, I hope my students will still listen to and perform music with greater intensity and understanding, enhancing both their lives and those around them.”
Stepping outside of one’s comfort zone isn’t just something Krebs asks of his students, it is advice he takes himself. For the past few years, he has dabbled with a faculty rock band, playing live shows every Reading Day Eve. If nothing else, it gives him a chance to think about what might have been if not for his parents purchasing that yard sale clarinet so many years ago.
“It’s been a blast jamming out on bass or drums and singing pop songs to an energetic, dancing group of students,” Krebs said. “For me, this has been a wonderful way to relieve stress and build the sense of community in our department.”
That sort of ‘good vibes’ mentality is something Krebs tries to instill in all his students. He knows years from now they will not remember a low grade on a quiz or a note missed in a performance. Perspective and perseverance are what matter in the end.
“Don’t take any day for granted, and make the most out of every opportunity,” he said. “Play it loud, play it proud, and if you play it wrong, it will make you strong.”
