I Always Wanted To

Hello, I’m Dr. Bob Lawrence – the founder and President of The Dallas School of Music.  I am a native of Rock Island, Illinois (located a couple hours west of Chicago). Growing up in a musical family and continuously hearing the Dixieland sounds of Bix Beiderbecke, I was destined to be a professional musician from early on. Many gifted and accomplished local jazz musicians were enormously influential during my early years of formation in the Quad-Cities (Al Frandsen, Warren Parrish, and Jack Scott to name just a few). After receiving a Bachelors degree in music from St. Ambrose University, I headed south to attend graduate school at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas). Considered by many the best collegiate jazz program in the world (which it is), NTSU (UNT) is where I would have the once-in-a-lifetime experience of learning from jazz legends Dan Haerle, Rich Matteson, and Jack Peterson. It was a fantastic environment, a constant thrill, and a dream come true! Likewise, it was du