Frank Battisti
Encyclopedia
Frank Battisti is the Conductor
Emeritus of the New England Conservatory of Music
Wind Ensemble.
, Leslie Bassett
, Robert Ceely, John Harbison
, Robin Holloway
, Witold Lutosławski, William Thomas McKinley
, Vincent Persichetti
, Michael Colgrass
, Daniel Pinkham
, Gunther Schuller
, Robert Selig, Ivan Tcheripnin, Sir Michael Tippett
, William Kraft
, Robert Ward and Alec Wilder
. Critics, composers and colleagues have praised Battisti for his commitment to contemporary music and his outstanding performances.
, England
, Europe
, Middle East
, Africa
, Scandinavia
, Australia
, China
, Taiwan
, Canada
, South America
, South Korea
, Iceland
and the former U.S.S.R. Recently he has appeared as a guest conductor with the New World Symphony Orchestra
, US Marine Band and the Interlochen Arts Academy Band.
(ABA) and founder of the National Wind Ensemble Conference, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble (MYWE) and New England College Band Association (NECBA). In 2000 he was appointed the inaugural conductor for the Tanglewood Institute's Young Artists Wind Ensemble. Battisti has served on the Standard Award Panel of American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and been a member of the Music Panel for the Arts Recognition and Talent Search (ARTS) for the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts. For many years he served as editor for various music publishing companies and is currently a consulting editor for The Instrumentalist magazine.
Battisti constantly contributes articles on wind ensemble/band literature, conducting and music education to professional journals and magazines and is considered one of the foremost authorities in the world on wind music literature. He is the co-author of Score Study for the Wind Band Conductor (1990) and author of The 20th Century American Wind Band/Ensemble (1995) and The Winds of Change (2002).
in 1992, the first Louis and Adrienne Krasner Excellence in Teaching Award from the New England Conservatory of Music
in 1997, the Lowell Mason Award from the Massachusetts Music Educators Association in 1998, the New England College Band Association's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic's Medal of Honor in 2001.
In 2001, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute
established the "Frank L. Battisti Tanglewood Institute Conducting Residency" which is awarded each summer to a talented young wind ensemble conductor. Under Battisti's guidance the recipient participates in the Institute's Young Artists Wind Ensemble program as a conducting assistant and chamber music
coach. In June 2001 Ithaca (NY) High School instituted and presented the first "Frank L. Battisti Instrumental Music Award." Battisti graduated from Ithaca High School
and was Director of Bands there from 1955-67. This award is presented annually to an Ithaca High School Band member who "possesses high musicianship, a desire for excellence, creativity and enthusiasm."
in 1955 and remained in this position until 1967. He also served as chairperson of the Instrumental Music Department from 1961-67.
The Ithaca High School Band, under Battisti's direction, achieved national recognition as one of the finest and most unusual high school bands in the nation. The concert band performed at the Ithaca College School of Music, Eastman School of Music, Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Mid West National Band and Orchestra Clinic (Chicago 1965), Rockefeller Center, the New York World's Fair (1964) and at other music conferences. In 1997 the John Philip Sousa Foundation selected Battisti's Ithaca High School Concert Band for their Historic Roll of Honor of High School Concert Bands, 1920 1980. This Roll of Honor identifies high school concert bands whose musical excellence at the national level exerted historically significant influence on high school band programs. Eugene Corporon, President elect of the College Band Directors National Association and Director of Wind Studies at North Texas State University, hails the Ithaca High School Band under the leadership of Frank Battisti "as one of the truly great achievements of instrumental music education in the twentieth century."
In 1958 Battisti inaugurated the Ithaca High School Band Commissioning Works Project. From 1958-67, the Ithaca High School Band commissioned 24 works for band. Many of these works were published and have become part of the standard literature for the wind band medium. Composers commissioned by the band included Pulitzer Prize in Music winners Leslie Bassett
, Karel Husa
, Robert Ward, Warren Benson
, David Borden
, Carlos Chavez
, Barney Childs
, Walter Hartley
, Vincent Persichetti
, Armand Russell
, Gunther Schuller
and Alec Wilder
.
Guest soloists and conductors appearing with the Ithaca High School Band while Battisti was conductor of the ensemble included Benny Goodman
, Carl "Doc" Severinsen
, Donald Sinta
, Harvey Phillips
, The New York Brass Quintet, Jimmy Burke
, Vincent Persichetti
, Norman Dello Joio
, Thomas Beversdorf, Clyde Roller, Frederick Fennell
, William D. Revelli and Walter Beeler.
In December 1993 Meredith Music Publications published a book, One Band That Took a Chance by Brian Norcross. It is a detailed account of Mr. Battisti's innovative high school band program in Ithaca, New York from 1955-67.
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
Emeritus of the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
Wind Ensemble.
Career
Battisti founded and conducted the NEC Wind Ensemble for 30 years. The ensemble is recognized as being one of the premiere ensembles of its kind in the United States and throughout the world. It has performed often at music conferences, recorded for Centaur, Albany and Golden Crest records and had many of its performances broadcast over the National Public Radio.Commissions
Battisti has been responsible for commissioning and premiering over 50 works for wind ensemble by distinguished American and foreign composers including Warren BensonWarren Benson
Warren Benson was an American composer. His compositions consist mostly of music for wind instruments and percussion...
, Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett is an American composer of classical music, and the University of Michigan’s Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Composition...
, Robert Ceely, John Harbison
John Harbison
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
, Robin Holloway
Robin Holloway
Robin Greville Holloway is an English composer.-Early life:From 1952 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral...
, Witold Lutosławski, William Thomas McKinley
William Thomas McKinley
William Thomas McKinley is an American composer and jazz pianist. He has written more than 300 musical compositions, many of which have been recorded by such ensembles as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony...
, Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Ludwig Persichetti was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, Persichetti was a native of Philadelphia...
, Michael Colgrass
Michael Colgrass
Michael Colgrass is an American-born Canadian musician, composer, and educator.His musical career began in Chicago as a jazz musician . He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in percussion performance and composition, including studies with Darius Milhaud at the Aspen Festival...
, Daniel Pinkham
Daniel Pinkham
Daniel Rogers Pinkham, Jr. was an American composer, organist, and harpsichordist. Pinkham was one of America's most active composers during his lifetime...
, Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
, Robert Selig, Ivan Tcheripnin, Sir Michael Tippett
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
, William Kraft
William Kraft
William Kraft is a composer, conductor, teacher, and percussionist.-Undergrad and Graduate School Years :...
, Robert Ward and Alec Wilder
Alec Wilder
Alec Wilder was an American composer.-Biography:...
. Critics, composers and colleagues have praised Battisti for his commitment to contemporary music and his outstanding performances.
Guest Conducting
Battisti often appears as a guest conductor with many university, college, military, professional and high school bands and wind ensembles as well as a guest conductor/clinician and teacher throughout the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and the former U.S.S.R. Recently he has appeared as a guest conductor with the New World Symphony Orchestra
New World Symphony Orchestra
The New World Symphony is the United States' only full-time orchestral academy preparing musicians for careers in symphony orchestras and ensembles...
, US Marine Band and the Interlochen Arts Academy Band.
Organizations
Past President of the US College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), Battisti is also a member of the American Bandmasters AssociationAmerican Bandmasters Association
The American Bandmasters Association was formed in 1929 by Edwin Franko Goldman to promote concert band music. Goldman sought to raise esteem for concert bands among musicians and audiences...
(ABA) and founder of the National Wind Ensemble Conference, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble (MYWE) and New England College Band Association (NECBA). In 2000 he was appointed the inaugural conductor for the Tanglewood Institute's Young Artists Wind Ensemble. Battisti has served on the Standard Award Panel of American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and been a member of the Music Panel for the Arts Recognition and Talent Search (ARTS) for the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts. For many years he served as editor for various music publishing companies and is currently a consulting editor for The Instrumentalist magazine.
Battisti constantly contributes articles on wind ensemble/band literature, conducting and music education to professional journals and magazines and is considered one of the foremost authorities in the world on wind music literature. He is the co-author of Score Study for the Wind Band Conductor (1990) and author of The 20th Century American Wind Band/Ensemble (1995) and The Winds of Change (2002).
Awards and honors
In 1986 and again in 1993, Mr. Battisti was a visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, England. He has received many awards and honors including an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Ithaca CollegeIthaca College
Ithaca College is a private college located on the South Hill of Ithaca, New York. The school was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music. The college has a strong liberal arts core, but also offers several pre-professional programs and some graduate programs. The college is...
in 1992, the first Louis and Adrienne Krasner Excellence in Teaching Award from the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
in 1997, the Lowell Mason Award from the Massachusetts Music Educators Association in 1998, the New England College Band Association's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic's Medal of Honor in 2001.
In 2001, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute
Boston University Tanglewood Institute
The Boston University Tanglewood Institute is recognized internationally as the premiere summer training program for aspiring high school-age musicians and is the only program of its kind associated with one of the world’s great symphony orchestras...
established the "Frank L. Battisti Tanglewood Institute Conducting Residency" which is awarded each summer to a talented young wind ensemble conductor. Under Battisti's guidance the recipient participates in the Institute's Young Artists Wind Ensemble program as a conducting assistant and chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
coach. In June 2001 Ithaca (NY) High School instituted and presented the first "Frank L. Battisti Instrumental Music Award." Battisti graduated from Ithaca High School
Ithaca High School (Ithaca, New York)
Ithaca High School is a public high school in Ithaca, New York. It is part of the Ithaca City School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 1,675. Jarett Powers has been principal since 2011.-About:...
and was Director of Bands there from 1955-67. This award is presented annually to an Ithaca High School Band member who "possesses high musicianship, a desire for excellence, creativity and enthusiasm."
Teaching
Frank Battisti's teaching career began as an instrumental teacher in the Ithaca City Public Schools in 1953. He was appointed Director of Bands at Ithaca High SchoolIthaca High School (Ithaca, New York)
Ithaca High School is a public high school in Ithaca, New York. It is part of the Ithaca City School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 1,675. Jarett Powers has been principal since 2011.-About:...
in 1955 and remained in this position until 1967. He also served as chairperson of the Instrumental Music Department from 1961-67.
The Ithaca High School Band, under Battisti's direction, achieved national recognition as one of the finest and most unusual high school bands in the nation. The concert band performed at the Ithaca College School of Music, Eastman School of Music, Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Mid West National Band and Orchestra Clinic (Chicago 1965), Rockefeller Center, the New York World's Fair (1964) and at other music conferences. In 1997 the John Philip Sousa Foundation selected Battisti's Ithaca High School Concert Band for their Historic Roll of Honor of High School Concert Bands, 1920 1980. This Roll of Honor identifies high school concert bands whose musical excellence at the national level exerted historically significant influence on high school band programs. Eugene Corporon, President elect of the College Band Directors National Association and Director of Wind Studies at North Texas State University, hails the Ithaca High School Band under the leadership of Frank Battisti "as one of the truly great achievements of instrumental music education in the twentieth century."
In 1958 Battisti inaugurated the Ithaca High School Band Commissioning Works Project. From 1958-67, the Ithaca High School Band commissioned 24 works for band. Many of these works were published and have become part of the standard literature for the wind band medium. Composers commissioned by the band included Pulitzer Prize in Music winners Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett
Leslie Bassett is an American composer of classical music, and the University of Michigan’s Albert A. Stanley Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Composition...
, Karel Husa
Karel Husa
Karel Husa is a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition...
, Robert Ward, Warren Benson
Warren Benson
Warren Benson was an American composer. His compositions consist mostly of music for wind instruments and percussion...
, David Borden
David Borden
David Borden is an American composer of minimalist music.In 1969, with the support of Robert Moog, he founded the synthesizer ensemble, Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company in Ithaca New York. Mother Mallard performed pieces by Robert Ashley, John Cage, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, and...
, Carlos Chavez
Carlos Chávez
Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No...
, Barney Childs
Barney Childs
Barney Childs was an American composer and teacher.Born in Spokane, Washington, he taught and composed avant-garde music and literature at universities in the United States and United Kingdom.-Music:...
, Walter Hartley
Walter Hartley
Walter Sinclair Hartley is an American composer of contemporary music.-Biography and education:He was born in Washington, D.C., began composing at age five and became seriously dedicated to it at sixteen. All his college degrees are from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester....
, Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Ludwig Persichetti was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, Persichetti was a native of Philadelphia...
, Armand Russell
Armand Russell
-Town politics:Russell served as City Councillor in 1949 and 1950 and as Mayor from 1950 to 1957 in Saint-Joachim-de-Shefford. He also served as Mayor of Waterloo, Quebec from 1957 to 1967.-Member of the legislature:...
, Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
and Alec Wilder
Alec Wilder
Alec Wilder was an American composer.-Biography:...
.
Guest soloists and conductors appearing with the Ithaca High School Band while Battisti was conductor of the ensemble included Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Carl "Doc" Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
, Donald Sinta
Donald Sinta
Donald Sinta is an American classical saxophonist, educator, and administrator.In 1969 he was the first elected chair of the World Saxophone Congress.-Teaching career:He serves as Earl V...
, Harvey Phillips
Harvey Phillips
Harvey Phillips was a professor emeritus of the , Indiana University, Bloomington and dedicated advocate for the tuba.-Biography:Phillips was a professional freelance musician from 1950 to 1971, winning his first professional...
, The New York Brass Quintet, Jimmy Burke
Jimmy Burke
Jimmy Burke is the name of:*James Burke , Irish-American gangster*Jimmy Burke , American baseball player...
, Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Ludwig Persichetti was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, Persichetti was a native of Philadelphia...
, Norman Dello Joio
Norman Dello Joio
- Life :He was born Nicodemo DeGioio in New York City to Italian immigrants. He began his musical career as organist and choir director at the Star of the Sea Church on City Island in New York at age 14. His father was an organist, pianist, and vocal coach and coached many opera stars from the...
, Thomas Beversdorf, Clyde Roller, Frederick Fennell
Frederick Fennell
Frederick Fennell was an internationally recognized conductor, and one of the primary figures in promoting the wind ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the USA and abroad...
, William D. Revelli and Walter Beeler.
In December 1993 Meredith Music Publications published a book, One Band That Took a Chance by Brian Norcross. It is a detailed account of Mr. Battisti's innovative high school band program in Ithaca, New York from 1955-67.