After being told to switch instruments in middle school, Lucas Meinberg ‘26, playing the tuba at the time, attempted the sousaphone, which can weigh around 30 pounds and must be carried on the player's shoulder.
But at the start of his high school career, Meinberg discovered his love for an instrument outside of the brass family.
Meinberg, a little less laboriously than the sousaphone, picked up the flute as a freshman.
“I don't know if I would have had the courage to switch if I hadn't been given that opportunity to play in the marching band,” he said. “I think there's a good possibility that I might still be a tuba player and be afraid of making that switch.”
The switch encouraged him to stay and hone his artistry. He said he had to catch up with his bandmates who had been playing the flute since middle school, but his incessant practicing eventually helped him surpass some of them.
Now, he plans to continue it in a full time orchestral position and teach at the university level.
“I think that's very, very admirable when someone really loves music and they can just make a career out of different things,” Meinberg said.
He said he committed to Mercer University because of the school's smaller student body size. The more compact school created musical opportunities for him that may not have existed at larger universities.
The Townsend School of Music's curriculum for the wind ensemble has changed during Meinberg’s attendance and, he said, he has had more opportunities to work with the Macon Symphony Orchestra for wind instrument students.
“I think our cohort kind of perpetuated that change and helped push the school forward in a way,” Meinberg said.
He said he thinks his growth at Mercer has been "explosive” as his technique and tone blossomed over the last four years in the program.
He said professors like Kelly Via and Director of Bands Britton Brodock inspired him to continue his momentum both personally and musically. He also said his lifelong friends, Cailey Martinez '26 and Ted Babbitt '26, auditioned for graduate school with him.
As he reflected on his time at Mercer, Meinberg said his feelings toward graduating are bittersweet. Mixed with excitement, he said he is sad to part from his undergraduate friends and the smaller school environment.
“I think it's a beautiful thing when you can find a group of people that you like to play with, but also like to be around,” Meinberg said.
He said he is nervous about fitting in and finding his people, but thinks it will come naturally.
Meinberg plans to complete a masters degree in flute performance at a Boston conservatory. He said he will be in the wind ensemble orchestra and work in a more rigorous and specialized setting.
He plans to either pursue a doctorate in musical arts or work part time in an orchestra after the Boston conservatory.
