Atherton Award Recipient
Trent Spatenka, 2015

Trent Spatenka
Sousaphone

Trent Spatenka currently works at Wenger Corporation as an IT Systems Analyst. His interest in music and performing arts make his daily work exciting, and getting to see the equipment and products get installed in various places (like UWEC!) fills in the “why” when he clocks in every day.

Trent graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in 2016 with a degree in Marketing with an emphasis in Professional Sales. Since then, he has served as various analysts for different companies before landing at Wenger Corporation.

When he is not at work he enjoys playing baritone saxophone in the Southern Minnesota Real Big Band out of Waseca, MN; the Jazz10 out of Mankato, MN; Valley Winds out of Apple Valley, MN; and the Owatonna Community Band out of Owatonna, MN. He has also taken part in community productions. He is a member of the Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival committee where he handles a lot of the logistics for the day of the festival and enjoys seeing area marching bands, including some fellow UWEC alumni and their bands. His wife Emily, a piccolo BMB alum, is also a part of the board.

Trent is a huge musical advocate and preaches the importance of music and its ability to transcend past the band room and how it relates to your personal life. He uses the interpersonal skills that the Blugold Marching Band taught him daily in his work and his personal life, along with the lessons of working diligently and putting all you have into your work to obtain the best results.

During his time at UW-Eau Claire, Trent was a member of the University Band, Jazz Bands, Pep Band, Forward Brass Band, and Blugold Marching Band.

“My time in the Blugold Marching Band defined my time at UW-Eau Claire. I didn’t know the band existed until after the season started but I found myself on the field after camp after being asked to join by Dr. Dickerson. Immediately I felt at home and I knew this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my time in school. Making the transition to sousaphone my sophomore year offered me the experiences of a lifetime not only in terms of making friends for life and meeting my future wife, but the ability to travel internationally and to spread the joy of music across the globe with those people. There’s also something freeing about this ensemble, and that helped mold me into the person I am today. I am eternally grateful to the BMB and to UWEC for allowing me the opportunities it gave me then, now, and for the future.”