LEWISTON — Roger Renaud was a great many things. A husband, father, musician, teacher and — most importantly — an advocate for keeping music in schools.

On Friday, July 30, his family, friends, fellow musicians and former students will host a tribute concert in his honor, kicking off a fundraising effort for scholarships to help music teachers and their students.

“I thought, after his passing, that we should do something great to honor him,” said Renaud’s wife, Carol.

So, she and Renaud’s brother, Norm, decided to organize a concert to honor “his passion for music in the community where he taught for many, many years,” she said.

Norm Renaud said his brother promoted music in Lewiston through music directors in the school system and through private teachers, and Carol said she hopes that some of the people that her husband worked with will be willing to sit on a board supervising the scholarship.

“We’ll try to keep all the money locally and maybe spark a musical interest in some kids,” Norm Renaud said. “We need to keep this 100-year-old legacy of music alive in this city.”

Roger Renaud was mentored by an older generation of Lewiston musicians, and spent his entire life passing that tradition along to younger generations, sharing his passion and encouraging them to pursue their own dreams.

His core belief, Norm Renaud said, was “when words fail, music speaks.”

Roger Renaud started taking trumpet lessons when he was 6 or 7 years old, Norm remembers, and when he started school the music teachers noticed him and mentored him.

“That’s what just propelled him and sent him off on the music trajectory” and a professional playing career, he said, eventually settling on the saxophone as his main instrument.

He taught himself how to play the instrument in two weeks, and loved the sound. A natural musician, he arranged his own music and eventually learned to play the piano, flute and other instruments, in addition to his first love, the trumpet.

“His passion for music, the students, it was his life,” Carol Renaud said. “He played from the heart and you could hear that.”

A shoemaker by trade, Roger Renaud formed his first band in the 1970s, The Flairs. He eventually became a regular on Saturday nights in the house band at The Roundhouse, and played Big Band sounds, jazz and blues with equal enjoyment.

As a fixture on stage for nearly 50 years, Norm remembers many a time when a band leader would find he was missing an instrument for a crucial piece “and would fit my brother in because he could play anything. Roger’s here.”

“We’re good,” he said. 

He inspired his private students to excel, and many went on to study music in college and launch professional careers of their own.

“He started so many musicians on their careers,” Norm Renaud said, and many of them will be appearing in Saturday’s concert.

“All of these musicians participating want to keep the music going,” he said. “It’s to our advantage in the state of Maine” to carry on Lewiston’s music traditions.

Carol Renaud said establishing the scholarship is important for children who want to play, which has become increasingly difficult when school budgets are so strained.

“Music is a morale-booster for the kids,” she said. “It teaches them confidence. It teaches them math and to count because they have to read the music.”

And, she said, music is often a place children can turn when they don’t excel in sports or other activities.

“Once you learn how to play an instrument, you can fit in,” she said. “Music is a binding force for any person.”

Norm said his family believes music should be a mandatory course for all children, not an elective.

“Music appreciation alone rounds out a person,” he said.

And, Norm said, “music goes right through the human body, not around it,” which makes it good for the soul.

Roger Renaud, who was 74 years old, died in April in Florida. Carol said he’d had a gig the night before, performing at an upscale bistro with a female vocalist. It was one of three or four performances he still booked each week.

During the performance, he passed out and a doctor at the bistro was able to revive him, and then suggested he go to the local emergency department, Carol said.

But Roger wouldn’t go. He wanted to finish playing his set, but made a change to the final song.

Carol was there and heard him say to the vocalist, “we’re changing the last number and it’s going to be ‘Hallelujah,’” which was his favorite hymn.

After he finished, he told Carol he didn’t feel well and wanted to go home.

He died the following morning.

Carol said her family remains comforted by his musical aura they feel around them, and are determined to carry on Roger’s legacy of promoting and performing music.

Former students who are interested in participating in the concert should contact Carol Renaud at 207-784-2225 or 207-754-4967.

jmeyer@sunjournal.com

“How Do We Keep The Music Playing?” will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 30, at the Franco Center.

The concert will feature performances by the Moondawgs, The Rockin Recons, Skosh, The Girls of LA and Brooke Fogg St. Pierre.

Also scheduled to perform are friends and former students of Roger Renaud, including Mike Willette, Shawna Haley-Bear, Pam Vaillancourt, Ed Boucher, Rhonda Webber and Mitchell Clyde Thomas.

Former student and current studio drummer working in California, Bob Elie is also scheduled to perform.

Tickets are $17. To buy in advance, call 207-689-2000. Tickets will also be available at the door.

There will be a cash bar, refreshments at a raffle.

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