WS Chronicle

Lundy

Quincy Lundy had the good fortune to have music teachers who supported and encouraged him in middle and high school, and he wants to give that same gift to his students now that he’s a teacher.

“My goal is to give them the experiences I received – the joy of music and of performing with others and the hope and encouragement that comes with all that,” Lundy said. “It is a wonderful way to bring people together.”

Lundy is the Teacher of the Year at Walkertown Middle School. Walkertown High School shares the building with the middle school, and he teaches both middle and high school students and serves as director of bands.

“He is encouraging,” said James Warren, a seventh-grader who plays trumpet. “He gets you to try as hard as you can even if you can’t get it right the first time. He tries to get you to learn…He is a good teacher and he is one of my favorites.”

Linzey Gaither, another seventh-grader who plays trumpet, added, “He is always in a good and cheerful mood. He makes band class fun.”
Lundy traces his love of music to listening to his mother, Regina Lundy, sing in the choral ensemble at Carver School Road Church of Christ when he was young. He liked the sense of people coming together to create something beautiful.

“I was enthralled by that.”

When it came time to sign up for classes at Atkins, which was a middle school at the time, he decided to take band. Money was an issue, so he picked the clarinet because it was the instrument that cost the least to rent.

People had warned him that band teacher Russell French brooked no nonsense. That was absolutely true, Lundy discovered. He also discovered that French was passionate about music and about helping students succeed. In the eighth-grade, Lundy, who had switched to bass clarinet by then, was chosen for the all-state band.
“It was because of him and the way he inspired me,” Lundy said.

He had the good fortune to have another strong advocate at West Forsyth High School – teacher William Toney. Lundy’s family didn’t have a car and Toney would drive Lundy to concerts and auditions. Lundy made all-state every year. His senior year, Toney made him drum major and encouraged him to audition for the National Band Association concert band. Lundy did and made first chair bass clarinet.

Such honors led the Marine Corps to recruit him to join and to perform music as a Marine. After attending the Armed Forces School of Music, he was based at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville for 2½ years. When he was offered the opportunity to return to the academy for leadership training if he re-enlisted, he took it. After completing the training, he was based at Parris Island in South Carolina. As a platoon sergeant with the band, he traveled up and down the East Coast participating in concerts and parades.

After he was discharged in 2001, he came home and took a job teaching music at Quality Education Academy, a charter school in Winston-Salem. While teaching, he started going to Winston-Salem State University to earn his bachelor’s degree. He graduated with a degree in music in 2010. He joined the faculty at Walkertown at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year.

Lundy’s other musical interests include playing with the Piedmont Wind Symphony, serving as a co-conductor of 2012 and 2013 Wachovia Winds Youth Winds Ensemble and as conductor of the Youth Piedmont Honor Band. He works with the music program at his church – East Side Church of Christ – and he composes music as well. He was stationed at Parris Island when French died, and he composed a piece in honor of French that the Marine band performed. He also enjoys recording music.
Lundy has become a gifted teacher, Toney said. “He is a fine, fine young man and he has his heart in it.”