Dr. Cuthbert was on the Board of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and he hired Anshel to join NTSU and work with the chamber orchestra from 12:00-1:00. Within the year, he was offered a full-time professorship as the Director of Orchestral Studies, and his family would join him in Texas. Maestro Brusilow would stay at NTSU until 1982, and then return (when it was the University of North Texas) in 1989. By the time he retired in 2008, he had been with student orchestras in Denton for nearly 30 years.

Looking back on his time here, Anshel fondly remembers the “first-rate faculty,” the “terrific students,” and the “wonderful friendships.” He was a member of “The Trio” with fellow faculty members George Papich and Martin Mailman, and takes pride in “turning the orchestra around.” He was doing what he always said was impossible: teaching conducting. Nevertheless, he loved it, and takes great pride in the incredible progress he was able to foster. “I couldn’t believe how well they played by the third year,” he marvels.

He never thought he would live to see the Murchison rise from nothing, but to his great surprise, “[he] opened it!” Now, 40 years after first setting foot on the campus grounds in Denton, Maestro Brusilow speaks before an array of followers that hang on his every word.

“We would have rehearsal from 10:30 until 1:00, and then I would go home and wait for the kids to come home so I could teach them how to rob a bank.”

As he speaks, it is clear that the complex Maestro is one part wise professor, one part musical genius, and one part stand-up comedian. He tells stories – some from the book, others not – about his three lives, but the event is very informal and intimate. The crowd moves from laughter to looks of impenetrably high regard, and one cannot help but be jealous of the many students who found themselves under the Maestro’s guidance throughout the years. Yet, regardless of whether he is cracking a joke, talking about his book with Ms. Underdahl, or fielding questions on Tchaikovsky and pop music, Anshel Brusilow reminds everyone that he is family man first.

“I’ve always worked hard to balance my three lives with family,” he tells me. “It was always Family, God, then Career.” His wife sits in the very front, listening intently as her husband tells funny stories from his time touring the Americas.

He concludes the tale, and the room in the Murchison rings with laughter. “Now, any questions?”

Shoot the Conductor: Too Close to Monteux, Szell, and Ormandy is a recounting of Maestro Brusilow’s life and career, with a focus on his relationships with the various mentors he had throughout his career. It won first prize for literary nonfiction at the 2014 Mayborn Conference, and can be bought online from UNT Press and Amazon.