He's a man who believes in retiring by degrees. Jack Knowles recently stepped down from the podium as the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra conductor to begin his next chapter as a retiree - well, almost.

"I do still retain the position of music director," Knowles said.

At 85, he found the three-hour rehearsals to be too draining. It was time to retire as conductor. In the meantime, his son, Bruce Knowles, the symphony's associate conductor, will take over musical chores while the symphony board conducts its search for a new conductor.

"Bruce is one of the applicants," Knowles said as he sipped from his coffee cup during a recent interview. His eyes twinkle behind his glasses when he laughs, which he does when recalling his travels abroad with his high school band members.

"For 46 years, I taught in music education, 36 years in the symphony and 37 years as music director. I keep retiring by degrees. I keep waiting to stay in the music business as long as I'm mentally able. Physically, I'm not sure how long I will be able to last," he said.

First season

Knowles joined the symphony while it was still called Rapid City Symphony Orchestra.

"It was my first position outside of the high school classroom," he said.

In the first season of his career in 1973, he was concertmaster of 12 string players, all of whom were advanced high school students to advanced adult musicians.

"It was not very advanced as it is now. We now have over 50 string players," he said.

They performed on stage at the different city high schools, which limited the size of the orchestra as well as its audiences.

"My first season, we played three concerts. Now in the orchestra's regular season, we have five concerts and two youth concerts," he said.

Changes over the years included a move to its main venue; the group began playing at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in 1977, following Elvis Presley's opening concert. Because it drew its musicians from Spearfish, Hot Springs, Belle Fourche, Sturgis and Custer - and still does - the name officially changed to Black Hills Symphony Orchestra. Along with the name change, the symphony was able to expand its musical membership to fit its much larger stage.

"We had held hope of doing concerts in other parts of the Hills," Knowles said. But they were never able to afford the travel or resolve conflicting schedules of its members.

"We have to struggle with our regular budget," Knowles said. "But we've had invitations."

As music director

In his probable last season as music director, Knowles calls the opening concert of the 2008-2009 season - "Viva Mexico!" - an intriguing and adventurous leap into music from south of the border.

"It's a great piece of music and very difficult to play. I'm even a part of it in a strange way," Knowles said of the concert.

It is the first time the orchestra will play a concert of exclusively Latin-American music. The major work of the program will be the cinematic suite "The Night of the Mayas" by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. The concert opens at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18.

The music originally was written for a 1939 Mexican movie, shot on location, about a white hunter who stumbles across a tribe of people in the Yucatan who are living exactly in the manner of their Mayan ancestors. He falls in love with a native girl, but the story turns tragic when the two are accused of witchcraft (causing drought and the subsequent crop failure), and she is sacrificed.

"At the wild finale, a conch shell is blown," Knowles said. That's where he comes in.

As band director at Central High School, he and the band traveled to the Yucatan near Cancun. It was there that he found a conch shell and a native taught him how to play it.

"I lived it out. It made this magnificent sound," he said of the conch.

Knowles brought it home, set it on a shelf and simply forgot about it - until this month.

"I blew the dust and spiders out of it. I'll do the blowing of the conch shell at 'The Night of the Mayas,'" he said.

Knowles notes that there are sections of great beauty as well as rhythmically complex dances in the musical score, but in the final scene, the music reaches a wild and almost frightening momentum as the greatly expanded percussion section and the brass lead the orchestra into the dramatic conclusion.

"It may be the most difficult music we have ever prepared to play," Knowles said.

But the 85-member symphony orchestra and Bruce Knowles will deliver an exciting evening, he said.

The entire season will be exciting, Knowles said, with themes such as "Music Made in America," "Lullaby of Broadway," "Bohemian Classics" and "Make Mine Mahler."

"This is some beautiful music," Knowles said.

A world view and beyond

Last summer, Knowles traveled to Scotland and took a cruise trip up Norway to the Arctic Circle, where there was 24 hours of daylight. "This was enjoyable," he said.

He and his wife, Deb, also have lived down under. Knowles taught one year in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

This love of travel has been lifelong.

Knowles said he plans to travel to New York City to taken in the revival of "South Pacific." He has some experience as a pit director; he directed for the musicals "Annie," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Fiddler on the Roof" when they arrived at the civic center.

"I love the musicals with a lot of strings and brass. It has all those lush sounds," he said.

Born in Stillwater, Minn., east of the Twin Cities, he was raised in Grinnell, Iowa. He attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City for both his bachelor's and master's degrees. He taught in public schools in Iowa, California, Oregon, South Dakota and Australia.

"I moved around a lot," he said. "My move to Rapid City was the longest that I have stayed anywhere. I feel like I'm home here."

He doesn't feel the urge to retire to warmer climates, or to commute to Arizona or other warm-weather states during the winters.

"I'm a northern person; I wouldn't want to live where there was only one season. I enjoy the change of the seasons too much," he said.

But he also is firmly rooted in Rapid City, his hometown since 1969. Not only do he and his wife still live here, so do all seven grandchildren, one son and three daughters. The Knowles also have sons living in New York City, Milwaukee and Cedar Falls, Iowa.

While Deb still teaches, Knowles will begin to adjust to his free time.

"I still do some teaching of bagpipes to students," he said. Of Scottish heritage, he see this as a wonderful heritage to pass on.

He also has started a thoughtful examination of his life in music education, his travels and as a conductor. Finding ways to convey those memories in a meaningful way can be tricky.

"I'm trying to write my memoirs, but it's somewhere in my computer," he said.

If you go

Who: Black Hills Symphony Orchestra

What: "Viva Mexico!" The colorful, powerful music of Silvestre Revueltas and other Mexican composers.

When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 18.

Where: Rushmore Plaza Civic Center theater.

Tickets: Tickets are available at www.gotmine.com, www.blackhillssymphony.com, or by calling 1-800-GOT-MINE. Adult ticket prices start at $10; student tickets are available starting at $8.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.