‘Parkinson’s won’t define me,’ music teacher says
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. >> Saugerties Central School District band teacher Bernhard Spirig, 67, is not letting living with Parkinson’s disease for the last three years take away from his love of teaching music.
“Music is all about building relationships and making connections,” Spirig said in a prepared statement. “It’s about having students feel, hear, connect, and perform the music. “Music is such a powerful thing; it enriches our lives and helps foster intelligence.”
“Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder that affects the nervous system and different parts of the body controlled by nerves,” the Saugerties School District said in a press release said. “Symptoms can include tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, impaired posture, speech changes and lost of automatic movements.”
But he still enjoys sharing his musical talents despite challenges with movement and rhythmic shaking.
“He realizes that every day is a gift—a hard-earned, life-affirming, take-nothing-or-granted opportunity to keep doing the thing he’s loved since he first started playing an instrument,” the district said.
That love started back in his hometown of Olten, Switzerland, when he was 9 years old and first played the recorder, which led to playing the flute and later the trumpet, the district said.
It was while playing in his high school marching band, that he discovered he wanted to teach band, the district said.
He came to the U.S. in 1997 and graduated from the College of Saint Rose in Albany with an education degree and worked as a music teacher at the Woodstock Day School before moving on to Saugerties Junior High School in 2000.
Three years ago, Spirig noticed his tremors started to affect his performance while playing the trumpet, the district said. While he had to give up the trumpet, he now plays the bass and tuba.
“This was a very difficult time for me,” Spirig said. “I felt like I had to learn how to live with this degenerative disorder and do it with a smile.”
Spirig takes medication for the tremors and speaks with a biofeedback therapist who helps him understand mentally what he’s feeling, and shares exercises and diet modifications that can help to mitigate symptoms, according to the release.
“Whenever we’re faced with a hardship — our first instinct is to avoid it, fight it, or be angry,” Spirig said. “But I’ve learned to be more accepting of my capabilities and the capabilities of others.”
Acceptance is not about “getting over it” or putting on rose-colored glasses but making peace with the situation, he said. That is a lesson that he hopes to pass on to his students, the release said.
Spirig admitted in the release that he was nervous about how his students would react, but he added that they have been incredibly patient and compassionate when he has to do something at a slower pace.
“Parkinson’s won’t define me,” Spirig said.