Rest in Peace Jim Akins

[russiantuba]

Some heavy news on my heart--my teacher and mentor, Jim Akins, Tuba Professor at The Ohio State University and principal tubist of the Columbus Symphony for over 40 years, passed away today after fighting a brief, severe illness.

Jim was a huge influence on me and my playing. He was a student of Bob LeBlanc, Arnold Jacobs, Ron Bishop, and Robert Ryker.

Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers

[the elephant]

Wow! This is really sad…

Rest in peace, Jim. You will be missed by so many people.

[LeBlanc]

Jim was like a son to my Dad, Robert LeBlanc, Sr. and like a brother to me and our family. He will be greatly missed.

God please receive Jim into Your loving embrace in Jesus' name I pray.

-Jim LeBlanc

[gocsick]

Social media release from the Ohio State School of Music. Nothing on the website yet.

[bloke]

This is not meant to demean any of his accomplishments in the realm of tuba performance, but he also deserves credit (correct?) for presenting the repair industry with the option of using earth magnets to affect repairs, thus reducing the cost of many repairs as well as eliminating the damage to the finishes of many instruments.

I'm really good at getting people mixed up with others - so please forgive me if I'm wrong about this as well, but didn't he also make some pretty nice native American style flutes?

...ok... I just took a look online, and at least the flute thing that I thought I remembered seems to be correct.
Also - based on the dates of his degrees, he was probably about my age, perhaps around 69 or 70 years old...(??)

[gocsick]

100% correct on all counts Bloke.

He was also a semi-pro boxer at some point as well.

[russiantuba]

Here was a posting several have shared from his wife.

As an update to my previous post, my husband, Jim Akins, passed away yesterday. For nearly 15 years, Jim battled chronic health issues caused by vibrational angioedema, followed by a sudden and brief severe illness. He fought many rounds all those years with everything he had, getting all he could out of his body. He battled every last minute and through his final round.
Jim and I met in music school at OSU and celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary just 3 weeks ago. Jim was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, friend, musician, tuba player, Native American flute player and maker, fountain pen and train enthusiast, wearer of classic fedora hats, boxer, fencer, golfer, wrestler, kayaker, hiker, artist, calligraphy specialist, woodworker, and builder. No one loved Jim more than all the dogs we’ve had over the years. He was the principal tuba player of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra for 40 years and he proudly and passionately taught students of the tuba and euphonium studio at The Ohio State University for more than 30 years. His reputation as a tuba player was known internationally and his creativity knew no bounds. Over the years, he consulted with several tuba manufacturers on tuba design and he invented the Dent Eraser, constantly in pursuit of instrument improvement.
Jim’s passing came on so suddenly and was over in a flash, similar to the feeling I have of looking back over the lifetime I’ve spent with him since we met so very many years ago. He will be missed by myself, family members,
colleagues, students and musicians he mentored, and the many friends in his life.
We are planning a musical celebration of Jim’s life to be held at a later date. I will post information about date and time as the plans come into focus.
I so appreciate all the love, support and beautiful comments shared with me previously. Thank you, friends.
With love,
Lori

[Pauvog1]

I am so sorry for your loss my friend @russiantuba

Prayers for you, his family, friends, and other students. Sounds like he was a great man.

[graybach]

I am so sorry for your loss my family friend @russiantuba

Prayers for you, his family, friends, and other students. Sounds like he was a great man.

I will second everything that Pauvog1 said.
And you lost Richard Watson not that long ago, also.
Sometimes, losing close mentors like that is right up there with losing a family member.

[Chris Olka]

This is a true loss and sad news. I found out a few days ago and it was a shock.

Mr. Akins regularly attended major Cincinnati Symphony subscription concerts, and his daughter (a tubist and Executive Director of our May Festival) was routinely trying to get the two of us together after performances. I didn’t know of this until very recently, since I usually am on the road and driving to my farm before most patrons are even out of their seats…lesson learned…you never know who is listening…my loss.

However, he finally asked a mutual acquaintance at CSO to ask if I’d stick around and chat with him. I was thrilled to hear his request and we connected again (after many years) after my last concert of Petrushka in November. He was the consummate gentleman and we relived our first meeting in Orlando at Walt Disney MGM studios when he came and sat in with the TUBAFOURS tuba quartet in the early 1990’s. He wanted to play with us and it was an honor to make music with him. I distinctly remember his incredible physique and high level of playing on his Alexander 164(3?) CC tuba. I seem to recall that he was especially adept at circle-breathing! He was every bit the engaging gentleman then as he was last November.

His contributions directly, and through his students will be dearly missed in our community.

Rest in peace, Jim.

[Kent Eshelman]

So sad to hear this. I was fortunate to get to study with Jim Akins during my last two years of high school, and he was a big help and inspiration to me. He was so kind and very generous with his time and expertise. He was really responsible for my falling in love with orchestral music. 

One memory that just came to mind: In his recital at ITEC 2002 in Greensboro, he performed "Prayer of St. Gregory" by Hovhanness, "Field of the Dead" from Alexander Nevsky by Prokofiev, "Urlicht" from Symphony No. 2 by Mahler, and "Kol Nidrei" by Bruch. Afterwards I was nearby when Sam Pilafian greeted him and said to him, "That was about music...that's what that was about." I thought that was a great compliment, and well-deserved.

[russiantuba]

I am so sorry for your loss my family friend @russiantuba

Prayers for you, his family, friends, and other students. Sounds like he was a great man.

I will second everything that Pauvog1 said.
And you lost Richard Watson not that long ago, also.
Sometimes, losing close mentors like that is right up there with losing a family member.

This might be worth another separate post, but it has been rough. I am going to post later on this threat, more details abut my time and study with Jim, when I can get more time and the emotions.

I was never very close to my family, and haven't had many loved ones pass away, and those who have, it was a expected and a long time coming. These have felt tough because they were unexpected.

Rich was never a professor of mine, but a friend, colleague, and taught me so much about music. He was someone that would drive 4 hours to hear a recital, would respond to any question immediately if a student had any issues like a quiver, if there was a threat of a playing issue, he was willing to drop everything to hear it in person. He was a true teacher.

When you choose a music program for graduate work in performance, you ultimately choose the teacher in coordination with a program, and the teacher, in a way, chooses you. The 2-3 years of a degree are very much a partnership, someone imparting their goals and visions because they want to see you do better. I was also his teaching assistant. After finishing my DMA. is I would in touch a couple times a year, asked a question or two about excerpts, would tell him about a student I was having audition, etc.

What hurt a ton was that 2 weeks before, I called him. I never call people, but I had some questions on excerpts and told him how much I hated not studying the orchestral excerpts in his level of detail and focused on other musical goals during my time. I hit a dead spot on the drive, and he texted back and said he wanted me to come to his studio in January when I could get the chance, and he would give me all the knowledge of the excerpts and give me lessons on them, free of charge--he really wanted to see me progress as a musician and get my goals a decade after graduating. I will share more of the happy stuff in a later post so it can be searchable on here.