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In Scott Humburg's closet a classic black tuxedo hangs next to camouflage fatigues. Depending on the day and the task at hand, Scott dons one or the other. Last May, it was the tuxedo as Scott's choice for the two-week International Music Festival in Alba, Italy. He performed with the St. Mary's College Chamber Singers and as a soloist, premiering his own composition, "Songs of the Peninsula." His trip to Italy, like that of many other St. Mary's music students, was made possible through the generous financial support of College benefactor and former Trustee, Alice Waldschmidt. Asked what his favorite Italian meal was while in Alba, Scott replied, "No Alban meal does it better for me than a genuine Margherita pizza served with a glass of Dolcetto wine. E' molto bene!"
Scott is majoring in music and studies composition, vocal performance, and piano. During his junior year, he composed "Songs of the Peninsula" under the direction of Professor David Froom (a Guggenheim Fellow and recent winner of an Academy Award of Music). The work in three movements is based, in part, on several Korean folk melodies known collectively as "Arirang." These melodies were a part of his childhood, growing up in a Korean American household in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where his mother used to sing it as a lullaby. His 21st-century interpretation of the traditional Korean melodies is "the integration of similar harmonic devices you'd find in [Korean] folk music," says Humburg. "'Arirang' has a hymn-like aesthetic, especially in the third movement. The first movement is reminiscent of a dance, and the second movement I gave an impressionistic style, a lot like Debussy."
It's hard to imagine him having this conversation with his unit at the Maryland Air National Guard, dressed in fatigues and performing maintenance on a combat jet. Yet it is the job of aerospace maintenance technician that has made the singing possible, along with the college education. So in Scott's world, as in his closet, he has room for both. As a student, he's excelled, even despite a year-long hiatus caused by an Air Guard assignment prior to the outbreak of the Iraqi War. He's on the Dean's List, a St. Mary's Scholar, and has earned a Roberts Music Award. He's also an active member of Omicron Delta Kappa National leadership honor society, a resident assistant, and an editor for the Point News. He also serves as an ambassador for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Scott has not been called to active duty yet, and his enlistment to the Maryland Air National Guard is nearly complete. While he plans to go to graduate school someday, his immediate assignment is to find a job. He's looking for work as a vocalist or copyist with a military band in the Air Force, Army, or Navy.
"We have endowed two scholarships to help young musicians achieve their professional goals as performers, composers and teachers and, through their lives, share their talents and joys with others."
Karen Horton and John Roberts
