A vintage photo of Dave Zerbe.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is featured in the Winter 2026 edition of The Tartan magazine. Read more from The Tartan at alma.edu/tartan.
For more than three decades, Professor Dave Zerbe has set the tempo for Alma’s bands and percussion ensemble, blending musicianship, mentorship and tradition into a legacy that will resonate long after his final season on the field and in Presbyterian Hall.
When Dave Zerbe steps onto the football field on a crisp Saturday morning, the rhythm of life seems to fall into perfect time.
For more than three decades, Alma College has been that place for Zerbe, who serves as the Paul Cameron Russell Professor of Music, Director of Bands and Percussion Studies, and Chair of the Music Department. As he prepares to conclude his tenure at the end of the 2025–26 academic year, he reflects on a career defined by continuity—not only in sound, but in the community and care that have shaped generations of students.
Zerbe first came to Alma College in 1988, while still an undergraduate at Central Michigan University. That humble start grew into a lifetime of teaching and leadership that transformed Alma’s bands and percussion programs into models of excellence.
“I had three private lesson students and taught a pedagogy class. I was still in undergrad,” he said. “I was in my mentor’s office when his office phone rang, He answered, turned to me and said, ‘Would you be interested in a college teaching position?’ Of course I jumped at the opportunity. The rest spooled out from that beginning.”
Finding a rhythm
Originally from North Muskegon, Michigan, Zerbe’s love of music took hold early. “I started playing drums before I even knew I was doing it,” he said. “It’s always been my go-to thing — the thing that’s driven me, that I could never get enough of.”
By eighth grade, he was already marching in the high school band, a formative experience that helped shape his lifelong sense of belonging to musical ensembles.
At Central Michigan, Zerbe studied under his mentor and lifelong friend Robert Hohner, whose influence helped define Zerbe’s philosophy of teaching. Hohner suggested that his students get a Bachelor of Music Education degree and then pursue a master’s degree in performance — the former of which teaches students how to teach and certifies them for the same. The latter improves performance techniques, musicality, and broadens repertoire.
“For years, that was my push to all my students: get the BME, but practice your instrument as if you were a performance major,” Zerbe said. “Do the BME, and be a great player. After all, as a band director you will be the musical example for your students. You should be a phenomenal musician and have spent significant time in the practice room honing your personal musicianship.”
For more than three decades, Professor Dave Zerbe has set the tempo for Alma’s bands and percussion ensemble, blending musicianship, mentorship and tradition into a legacy that will resonate long after his final season on the field and in Presbyterian Hall.
The teacher’s tempo
Ask any of Zerbe’s former students what stands out most, and they’ll likely mention his exacting standards — delivered with humor, patience, and the deep conviction that hard work creates artistry.
“Music is about process,” Zerbe often reminds his ensembles. “It’s about what happens in rehearsal — how we listen, how we adjust, how we respond to each other.”
That same philosophy has guided his work as a mentor and department chair. Whether he’s rehearsing with the percussion ensemble or meeting one-on-one with a first-year music major, Zerbe emphasizes preparation, professionalism and respect for the craft. “Success is never owned, it is rented, and the rent is due everyday,” reads a wooden sign on his desk in the Eddy Music Building.
That care extends to the broader campus community as well. Zerbe has been a visible presence at countless campus events, from athletic contests to commencement ceremonies, where his students’ performances mark many of Alma’s most memorable moments.
His leadership has helped the Kiltie Marching Band become not only a musical ensemble but also a living symbol of the college’s spirit and tradition. Through it all, Zerbe has remained focused on teaching as a human art — one that balances structure with spontaneity, expectation with encouragement. “You try to build people who can handle themselves in a lot of different rooms,” he said. “That’s what music teaches you, and that’s what Alma teaches you too.”
In conversation, Zerbe’s stories tumble out with the percussive rhythm of a lifelong teacher: quick, precise, and rich with humor. He identifies photos in the band room by the tartans students wore and laughs about the “illegal frequencies” of old portable PAs for metronome amplification, still stored somewhere in the back.
“That’s how you know you’ve been around a long time,” he said.
Family and full circle moments
Zerbe’s path to the podium included time performing with Holland America cruise lines, traveling the world as a musician before returning to complete his degrees. Those experiences shaped not just his musicianship but his belief in resilience and purpose.
“Everything happens for a reason,” he said. “Had my college career not rolled out the way it did, I never would have met my wife.”
He met Christine in a Mount Pleasant gift shop called the Dondero House, where he worked during school. The two have been partners ever since, sharing a love of music and raising three children — Cyrus, Gabe, and Abigail — all of whom graduated from Alma College.
As Zerbe prepares to step away, his thoughts turn to legacy — not only the music performed, but the people shaped by it. “You think about the transition plan, about making everything easy for the next person,” he said. “Because all of this — the culture, the traditions, the little things that make it work — it’s all been cultivated for so long.”
Highlights
- Faculty Barlow Award winner in 2013 and 2024
- Outstanding Faculty Award for the Humanities in 2011
- Performed live with the late, great Aretha Franklin
- Founding member of the internationally acclaimed recording group, the Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble
In this 2002 photo, Dave Zerbe, far right, is pictured practicing outside of Bahlke Field with the Alma College marching band.