Robert Sabourin

Wow. I moved away from Midland 15 years ago, was thinking about Mr. Sabourin as I listened to a Choral program on NPR this morning. I am saddened to hear of his passing, but the fact that he gave me a lifelong love of music and music theory, enough so that despite it not being my vocation, it is a cornerstone of my life. I wouldn't be who I am today without Bob. Thank you, Sab.

Bob & Nick: what a magnificent dynamic duo as they played together. A great loss to all the organists who were under Bob and in turn serviced their students. Sympathies.

Dear Emilee,
I was saddened to hear of Bob's passing and want to extend to you my deepest condolences. I was a colleague of Bob's for many years, as we served together on the MSVMA board of directors. I greatly appreciated his opinions and wisdom in dealing with the organizations aims and goals. I admired his musicianship and high standards for using good choral literature. We had many good conversations about what we were singing with our respective school and church choirs and...

Bob was a fellow High School classmate at John Glenn H.S. in Bay City, Class of 1969. How time has passed! Sorry to learn of Bob's passing. God's Peace!

What an honor to know and learn from Bob/Sab/Mr Sabourin. Each of my three children so treasure this special teacher, who taught them solfege, sight singing, tuning their voices, and being their best selves! They each so enjoyed Meistersingers with him at Midland High School, 1998-2008. My own love for sacred, classical, and popular music was deepened as I basked in the many concerts of my children under Bob's leadership. His bravery in organizing and chaperoning annual student choir...

I remember Bob from when he was a student teacher at Handy. He directed the choir there for a year under Bob White, and was the music director for one of our yearly plays. He tried to get me to sign up for choir, saying that I would make a good tenor; I told him that I sang bass, and I would rather play drums in the band.

When he practiced something and made a mistake the first time, he would practice the measure that he was having a problem with several times until he got it...

In the late 70s, early 80s, I substitute taught for Bob's choruses at Midland High School. In my many years of directing, I have never experienced such a high degree of sight reading skills--traditional tonal music, plus atonal music. What a legacy!

I know Bob Sabourin will be missed by many musicians - I knew him from Bay City Western High School, played for productions at Bay City Players, Messiah Lutheran, and Bay City First Presbyterian. He encouraged me to pursue my cello studies at UofM and listened to cellos when I was purchasing a new one. Thank you Mr. Sabourin!

Prayers for Emilee and the entire family. He will be remembered and missed by all her loved him.