Music professor Carl Rath, above all things, feels blessed.

One will find his students and musical talent among the blessings he counts, and Rath attributes his success and happiness to his good fortune.

“I’ve been blessed with phenomenal students,” Rath said. “When I’m with them, I feel like I’m 20, as a spirit.”

Back in 1973, when Rath was 20 in both body and spirit, he was working for his Bachelor of Music Education while studying bassoon and percussion. Though Rath’s father was a professional drummer, Rath strayed from percussion and took up bassoon in junior high.

“I was the only one who actually knew what a bassoon was, and when the teacher asked if anyone wanted to play bassoon, I said yes,” Rath said. “I had to get out of the trumpets before they killed me.”

After graduating from Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Rath began his teaching career and unveiled his passion for teaching others in his trade.

While teaching classes like ‘Rock and Roll’ and ‘The Beatles,’ Rath maintains his identity as a musician by performing in the band he and his fellow music professors, Eldon Matlick and Kenneth Stephenson, created. Known as ‘the world’s most educated rock group,’ MidLife Crysis provided the trio with a musical outlet away from teaching. Though Stephenson has left the group, Rath and Matlick remain, along with various other colleagues coming and going along the way.

“A couple of them were really fantastic musicians that could really be rock stars,” Rath said. “Many of them played in rock bands in college on the side.”

With the remainder of his free time, Rath performs the bassoon with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and various music festivals. A member of the Philharmonic Orchestra since 1992, Rath has played with notable musicians such as Betty Johnson and Ben Folds, front man of the “Ben Folds Five.”

Rath takes this experience he has gained from performing and approaches teaching in the same manner.

“I want to reach out to my students like I do my audience,” Rath said. “Hopefully, my students can find themselves and enjoy their life like I did.”