Strike Up the Band: LSA alum Ruthemeyer comes home to lead Pioneers’ band program

IN 2016, WHEN TYLER RUTHEMEYER WAS A SENIOR AT LUTHERAN SOUTH ACADEMY, THAT’S WHEN THE RUN STARTED.

It began with his class and hasn't slowed down since.

The 2016 graduate is now back home at LSA to lead the Pioneer band program, which includes fourth grade through 12th, and will try and guide it to its sixth TAPPS State Championship in seven years.

"Things have certainly changed since I left, but not in a bad way at all," Ruthemeyer, who remembers playing the NFL on Fox theme song on Friday nights, said. "I'm looking forward to coming back and trying to continue the legacy of good music and good bands."

As the LSA band program goes under new leadership, it will look to hang another banner on the wall inside the band hall. It would be his first as a band director, but second overall.

"Hopefully, sooner rather than later," Ruthemeyer said with a laugh about winning another title. "We'll just have to see how things line up. I would like to (hang a banner), but the priority is music. Music first."

After graduating from LSA, Ruthemeyer, who played saxophone and bassoon in high school, attended Concordia University in Chicago.

When he was looking for that first job, LSA was open and now he's back home.

"It's a lot of new stuff, there's high expectations," Ruthemeyer, who will also teach a theology class, said. "It'd be a darn shame if the trend of winning ended with me. So, I'm very nervous but excited."

LSA took second place on Monday in the TAPPS Tier 3 Drumline Championship in Waco.

This article appeared in the VYPE 2021 LSA Fall Program - CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL PROGRAM