Hal Cooper Sr., director of bands at Arkansas Tech University from 1979-2011, died on Wednesday, April 15, following a brief illness. He was 81.
Cooper was named ATU professor emeritus of music in 2013 and he received the highest honor the university may bestow upon an individual — induction into the ATU Hall of Distinction — in 2017.
“When someone asks me how I stayed at Arkansas Tech in that job for 32 years, I say well, I got up in the morning, I showered and shaved and went to work,” said Cooper at the luncheon following his induction into the ATU Hall of Distinction in 2017. “The days turned into weeks, the weeks into months, the months into years and the years into decades. Before you know it, you have given your entire working life to whatever institution you are involved with. With me, it was Arkansas Tech University, and I’m very proud of that fact.”
The ATU Department of Music further immortalized his life’s work in November 2021 with the establishment of the Hal Cooper Repertoire Collection.
In fall 2025, Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center announced that remastered digital recordings from the Cooper era of “Arkansas’ Band of Distinction” had been created and shared online at https://orc.library.atu.edu/atu_band_cooper/index.html.
One of only five individuals to hold the title of director of bands during the more than 110-year tradition of instrumental music at Arkansas Tech, Cooper served as president of the Southwest Division of the College Band Directors National Association, president of Arkansas Phi Beta Mu and district governor of Kappa Kappa Psi college band service fraternity.
Cooper was named Arkansas Bandmaster of the Year in 1988, and he achieved membership in the American Bandmaster Association in 1992.
Dr. Daniel A. Belongia, ATU director of bands since 2015, forged a friendship with Cooper over the past 11 years. Throughout his retirement, Cooper was a frequent guest conductor with ATU bands and clinician at ATU-hosted events for high school and junior high musicians.
“The loss of my friend and mentor Hal Cooper Sr. will never be completely healed or filled,” said Belongia. “His impact on our profession is national, and I had heard of him and his amazing work throughout my career, but I first met Hal in my interview for the job to which he’d dedicated his professional life. He was immediately kind, warm, funny and generous. He made me feel welcome. He made me feel supported. I would quickly come to learn that this was just the way he was.
“I called him so many times for advice,” continued Belongia. “He was a champion of students, he was a great lover of people and even in retirement, gave generously of his time to support bands, students and band directors. A great joy of my life was observing his impact on my daughter through her time in the Russellville High School band program. Witherspoon Hall, Witherspoon Auditorium and the ATU campus have been blessed by his influence and omnipresence for five decades. I am heartbroken that I will no longer get to hear his voice or see his smile, but all of us who were fortunate to know him will strive to pay forward his indelible influence. We send all of our love and support to his wonderful family.”
Arrangements are being made through Shinn Funeral Service in Russellville. Service details and a link to the obituary will be added to this article as they become available.
