Introducing Bill McMosley, your BANK VI Hero of the Week!
Bill was nominated primarily for his work with the Salina Jazz Academy. The Jazz Academy, which is comprised of area middle and high school students, was designed to teach the art of jazz and how to improvise. The Academy also assists students with obtaining scholarships. The Academy meets once a week.
Bill is also the conductor of both the Salina Municipal Law Enforcement Band and the Salina Municipal Junior Law Enforcement Band, which were started in 2009. The junior band features about sixty are students from 6th through 10th grade. Band members hail from multiple communities including Salina, Ellsworth, Abilene, Solomon, Concordia, and Minneapolis. These bands are sponsored by the Salina Police Department, Saline County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Highway Patrol.
The Jazz Academy and the Law Enforcement Band are both actively involved with several programs such as the Horizons Grant, the Greater Salina Community Foundation and the Earl Banes Scholarship Awards. Both receive private funding from local residents and businesses.
Bill is also involved with the Salina Municipal Band, which is a local band consisting of high school students and adults, that primarily perform from May through September. Bill has been the conductor for the Salina Municipal Band since 2005.
Now retired, Bill previously served as the Director of Bands at Kansas Wesleyan University from 1998 to 2013.
Bill says that he is also been involved with the creation of a new band which will begin this fall, which is a Salina version of New Horizons. It will feature adults between the ages of 21-90 that have never played an instrument or want to learn how to play an instrument.
Bill says that the Jazz Academy would not be possible without the financial support of Great Plains Manufacturing.
Bill attributes all that has happened to him through his strong religious beliefs. “I believe the reason that everything is happening is God & Christ”, he stated, “I have been blessed that God and Jesus have allowed me to do this”.
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