Tallahassee’s Blair Clawson retires from music teaching career

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Blair Clawson, a member of the Tallahassee Fourth Ward, recently retired as a music teacher at Sealey Elementary School, ending a 50-year love affair with his students.

“Music touches parts of us that nothing else can, and virtually all of us love music of some kind. Making music is fun, so my focus has always been on helping my students develop into complete musicians: ear musicians and eye musicians,” he said. “With those tools of musicianship, they go into the world prepared not only to enjoy listening to music, but also actively making music!” he added.

Clawson’s love affair with music started at an early age. Born into a musical family with eight children, he was influenced by his mother, who was a piano and vocal teacher as well as a music conductor.

During his senior year at Brigham Young University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in music education, Clawson organized and conducted a non-audition undergraduate band.

He was hired as a music teacher in Arizona and spent five years conducting a community orchestra. During that time, he completed his master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Northern Arizona University.

Doctoral studies in music education brought Clawson to Tallahassee in 1984 where he spent two years as the assistant director of the FSU University Symphony Orchestra and director of the Tallahassee Youth Orchestra.

He served as the guest clinician for Leon and Santa Rosa County elementary honor choruses, a host of church choirs, five productions of Handel’s Messiah, guest conductor of the Big Bend Community Orchestra and studio conductor for Marvin Goldstein.

One of his fifth-grade students circulated a petition to have the music room at Sealey Elementary School named the Blair Clawson Music Room. The Leon County School Board approved the request.

“Teachers do the work of angels, and their students are literally children of the Highest! That understanding has continually helped me through the more challenging moments in my classroom and has helped me do my best to treat each of my students as the children of God that they are,” he said.

Clawson serves as the communication director for the Tallahassee Stake. He and wife Cindy have six children and nine grandchildren.