DON POPE "Seeking a Higher Plane" Born in 1956 this Jazz musician embraced a music that seemed, at the time, to be dying. Rock and roll had come on the scene and the day of the big band had come and gone. Groups like Tower Of Power, Blood, Sweat and Tears, and Chicago gave this young man a rope to hang on to and held him captive touching the very inner part of who Don Pope is. He is a marvelous "Texas Tenor", but not limited to one horn. He has a full rack and can blow captivating solos from each and every horn. He caught the attention of his band director as early as junior high and played his first paid gig in the tenth grade. His family moved to Houston before his junior year of high school for him to attend High School For The Performing and Visual Arts. This was a pivotal move for him; insuring his dream of becoming a professional musician.   He was offered several scholarships, but chose the road to be his classroom and experience his teacher. Here he poured his heart and soul into his horn and his horn poured heart and soul back into him. He played in a variety of bands, with genres ranging from R&B, Polka, Big Band, Soft Rock, Latino and of course, the first love of his life, Jazz. Once music had it's foundation set, Don found love in the form of a bride, named Charlotte. She was a nurse living in Bryan, Texas so he moved his suitcase to her closet in Bryan. A spiritual journey began with the two of them and gospel music was added to his repertoire. This spiritual journey was much deeper than music and totally engulfed his very being. He found work in the community as a music store manager and met a new group of Jazz musicians to play with. Chris Amemiya, an incredible trombonist, was attending Texas A&M University and these two made a great duo. Chris completed school and moved on to make way for the group “Don Pope and Friends,” consisting of various musicians that came and went (usually because of the University); a constant flow of new, fresh and sweet music. His love for music had not dimmed with his spiritual awakening, but had become more defined. His desire to help make a place for other musicians, especially young players, was birthed. The desire to know and please God became the center and music became the expression of love and not the object loved. Don met several men that traveled to bring the good news of Jesus Christ and they invited him to share his God-given talent as well as his personal testimony of what God had done for him. He traveled with these men on his time off and played his music in three dimensions: heart, soul and spirit. This fueled the fire of desire to delve into spiritual places he had never gone before. During this time Don began to enlarge his horizons through music composition. What were once only sweet thoughts, now began to take shape as his musical offspring which were indelibly marked with Don's unique DNA. His next job took him to the studio where he worked as an engineer at Videomega Productions, in an audio-video production environment. He began to help produce other musician’s music and breathe life into their dreams as well as his own. After about five years, life in Bryan came to a close with an invitation to work in full-time ministry. He embraced the offer with savor. He moved his family, a wife and three children, to Colorado to become the Minister of Music of a 1000+ member church. Here he experienced directing a large choir, producing musicals, teaching and training others to sing and play their instruments in the church setting. From there he went on the road again, this time taking his family with him and the focus of the music was not on entertainment, but a message, a message of hope. After two years of traveling around the country the time came to put down roots. A place called Willis, Texas, almost too small to be on the map, became Don's new home. A Church called Grace International and Pastors Bill and Evelyn Traylor began to embrace him and he them. With each new phase of his life growth has occurred. At Grace Intl. he has been blessed with rich relationships. These relationships have taken him around the world playing his music, expressing God's love. He not only is an accomplished musician, composer and teacher; he is a man of vision. One of his greatest accomplishments is to see greatness in others and then help draw it out of them. His music continues to move the heart, soothe the soul and now it touches the spirit as well. He has made a pledge to walk and talk and play in the spirit and he is forever "SEEKING A HIGHER PLANE."