Frederick Fennell
Encyclopedia
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. In Fennell's The New York Times
obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted, saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa
."
Fennell chose percussion as his primary instrument at the age of seven, as drummer in the fife-and-drum corps at the family's encampment called Camp Zeke. He owned his first drum set at age ten. In the John Adams High School
Orchestra, Fennell performed as the kettledrummer and served as the band's drum major
.
His studies at the Interlochen Arts Camp (then the National Music Camp) included being chosen by famed bandmaster Albert Austin Harding
as the bass drummer in the National High School Band in 1931. This band was conducted by John Philip Sousa
on July 26, the program including the premiere of Sousa's Northern Pines march. Fennell himself conducted at Interlochen at the age of seventeen.
Fennell found a compatible and fruitful relationship at the Eastman School of Music
. As a student, he organized the first University of Rochester
marching band
for the football team and held indoor concerts with the band after the football season for ten years. At Eastman, he completed his bachelor's and master's degrees (in 1937 and 1939). Fennell became the first person ever to be awarded a degree in percussion performance. He was also awarded a fellowship that allowed him to study at the Mozarteum Salzburg in 1938. Attending the Mozarteum Salzburg allowed him to take several classes with Herbert Albert
and visit several times with the festival’s chief conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler
. Returning, he sailed on the SS Bremen
departing Southampton
on September 3, 1938. For the purpose of the passenger manifest, he signed his name as Frederick Putnam Fennell (a rare use of his middle name).
Fennell also studied conducting with Sergei Koussevitzky at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood
in 1942 (with fellow classmates Leonard Bernstein
, Lukas Foss
, and Walter Hendl
). (He was appointed Koussevitzky’s assistant at the Center in 1948). During World War II Fennell served as the National Musical Advisor in the United Service Organizations
.
Eastman Wind Ensemble
While Fennell was recuperating from hepatitis
for six weeks in 1952, he devised a new symphonic band organization. This involved scaling the typical concert band down to the wind section of a symphony orchestra allowing for greater clarity and fewer intonation
difficulties. Fennell called a meeting of nearly 40 players in May 1952. Fennell himself explained that “I chose the best students in the school, and the best solo performers, and the best ensemble players”. On September 20, 1952 he held the first rehearsal for the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and he conducted the first concert at Eastman's Kilbourn Hall on February 8, 1953. Desiring expanded repertoire, Fennell mailed letters to nearly 400 composers around the world requesting appropriate compositions for the new group. The first composer to respond was Percy Grainger
, followed by Vincent Persichetti
and Ralph Vaughan Williams
.
, and various other groups, Fennell recorded many of the standards of the wind band repertoire. He became one of America's most-recorded conductors. Starting with "American Concert Band Masterpieces" in 1953, Fennell recorded over 300 compositions on 29 albums for Mercury Records
. For Mercury, Fennell recorded with the Eastman-Rochester "Pops", London "Pops" (actually the London Symphony Orchestra
), and free-lance groups of New York musicians. However, best known are the twenty-two of these 29 Mercury albums that were with Fennell's own Eastman Wind Ensemble
. One of these albums, Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger
recorded in 1958, was selected by Stereo Review
magazine as one of the 50 best recordings of the Centenary of the Phonograph 1877-1977. The two volume Civil War - Its Music and Its Sounds, recorded in December 1960, was a notable set of recordings also made with the Eastman Wind Ensemble
, this time performing on original instruments. In 1961, Fennell received a citation and a medal from the Congressional Committee for the Centennial of the Civil War for these recordings. In 2003, the 1958 Mercury album Winds in Hi Fi was chosen by the National Recording Preservation Board
for the National Recording Registry
.
Nearly all of Fennell's Mercury recordings were reissued on compact disc
. Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble were also featured in the premiere issuance of Mercury material on compact disc
. In 1986, 24 Sousa marches performed by the Eastman Wind Ensemble were released as a compact disc by Philips Records
, which now owned the Mercury catalog.
Fennell made the first symphonic digital recording in the United States for Telarc with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds, on April 4-5, 1978. This recording included the two Suites for Military Band by Gustav Holst
. With the Dallas Wind Symphony, Fennell recorded five programs of music by Nelybel, Albeniz, Grainger, Bernstein and more, for Reference Recordings. Fennell also recorded for Brain, Columbia Records
, Delos, King, Kosei, Ludwig, Premier Recordings, and Sine Qua Non Superba as well as the Library of Congress label.
) from 1962 to 1964. In September 1965 he became conductor-in-residence at the University of Miami
where he conducted the symphony orchestra and also founded a wind ensemble. He also served as the resident conductor of the Miami Philharmonic from 1974 to 1975. He was also principal guest conductor of the Interlochen Arts Academy and Dallas Wind Symphony
. At the invitation of its players, he was appointed the initial conductor of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
in 1984. http://www.tkwo.jp/english/about/fennell.html
On the podium, Fennell evinced a courtly yet commanding manner despite his five foot, one inch stature. He was known to take charge of a room with just his words, and his conducting was extremely animated. His conducting workshops were famous for including calisthenics and baton technique exercises in swimming pools. He remained highly active in the world of conducting until a few months before his death at the age of ninety at his home in Siesta Key, Florida. At the time he was conductor laureate of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
, principal guest conductor of the Dallas Wind Symphony
http://www.dws.org/ffennell.htm, and professor emeritus of the University of Miami
Frost School of Music.
in 1969, was presented the Star of the Order from the John Philip Sousa Memorial Foundation in 1985, received an honorary doctorate from Eastman in 1988, and was inducted into the National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors
in 1990. He received the Theodore Thomas Award of the Conductor's Guild in 1994. http://www.conductorsguild.org/main.asp?pageID=20 He was also inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2003, he received the Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award
from Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
at its national convention in Washington, DC.http://www.sinfonia.org/News/SN-2004-12-07.asp
Fennell was said to be most fond of the honorary doctorate he was awarded from Eastman, being inducted as an honorary chief of the Kiowa Nation in the 1960s, and receiving a medal of honor from Interlochen in 1989. He made frequent appearances guest conducting such ensembles as the Boston Pops Orchestra
1949 to 1978, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
, Cleveland Orchestra
, London Symphony Orchestra
, the United States Marine Band
, Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Interlochen Arts Camp. In 1997, Fennell became the first civilian to conduct an entire concert with the United States Marine Band; and in July 1998 he repeated this at a concert in the Kennedy Center celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Marine Band.
Dr. Fennell was a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
, the national fraternity for men in music (initiated into the Fraternity's Alpha Nu Chapter at the Eastman School of Music
in 1934), and Kappa Kappa Psi
, the National Honorary Band Fraternity.
Frederick Fennell Hall was dedicated in Kofu, Japan on July 17, 1992. On April 4, 2006, the Interlochen Center for the Arts
opened up state of the art music and academic libraries, with the music library named in honor and memory of Dr. Fennell and his wife, Elizabeth Ludwig Fennell. http://www.interlochen.org/department/music-library
At the conductor's request, his ashes were scattered in the woods at Interlochen, Michigan.
, Carl Fisher, Theodore Presser, and Sam Fox
. For the Fennell Editions at Ludwig Music he edited over 50 scores for band performance, including many marches. One of these editions published in 1981 was for his favorite march, National Emblem
by Edwin Eugene Bagley
. He also wrote a series of sixteen articles published in The Instrumentalist under the heading ‘Basic Band Repertory’ beginning in April 1975 and concluding in February 1984. These articles were devoted to what Fennell called "...indestructible masterpieces for band that have survived the ravages of time and many an inept conductor".
Fennell was commissioned by Grenadilla Music to write a major article on 20th Century band composers and their music. The article was published in volume one of "Panorama of 20th Century Classical Music" subtitled, "BAND! (Wind Ensembles, Brass & Concert Bands" and is currently available at www.grenadillamusic.com.
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...
, 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
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
in the USA and abroad. In Fennell's The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted, saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
."
Fennell chose percussion as his primary instrument at the age of seven, as drummer in the fife-and-drum corps at the family's encampment called Camp Zeke. He owned his first drum set at age ten. In the John Adams High School
John Adams High School (Cleveland, Ohio)
For schools with similar names, see Adams High School.John Adams High School is a public high school located on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.-History:...
Orchestra, Fennell performed as the kettledrummer and served as the band's drum major
Drum Major
A drum major is the leader of a marching band, drum and bugle corps, or pipe band, usually positioned at the head of the band or corps. The drum major, who is often dressed in more ornate clothing than the rest of the band or corps, is responsible for providing commands to the ensemble regarding...
.
His studies at the Interlochen Arts Camp (then the National Music Camp) included being chosen by famed bandmaster Albert Austin Harding
Albert Austin Harding
Albert Austin Harding was the first Director Of Bands at the University of Illinois. He was also the first band director at an American university to hold a position of full professorship...
as the bass drummer in the National High School Band in 1931. This band was conducted by John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
on July 26, the program including the premiere of Sousa's Northern Pines march. Fennell himself conducted at Interlochen at the age of seventeen.
Fennell found a compatible and fruitful relationship at the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
. As a student, he organized the first University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
for the football team and held indoor concerts with the band after the football season for ten years. At Eastman, he completed his bachelor's and master's degrees (in 1937 and 1939). Fennell became the first person ever to be awarded a degree in percussion performance. He was also awarded a fellowship that allowed him to study at the Mozarteum Salzburg in 1938. Attending the Mozarteum Salzburg allowed him to take several classes with Herbert Albert
Herbert Albert
Herbert Albert was a German conductor.Albert was born in Lausick and died in Bad Reichenhall. After studying with Karl Muck as a pianist he later held a succession of music director positions in Baden-Baden, Stuttgart and Breslau in the 1930s and 1940s...
and visit several times with the festival’s chief conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...
. Returning, he sailed on the SS Bremen
SS Bremen (1929)
The SS Bremen was a German-built ocean liner constructed for the Norddeutscher Lloyd line to work the transatlantic sea route. The Bremen was notable for her bulbous bow construction, high-speed engines, and low, streamlined profile. At the time of her construction, she and her sister ship were...
departing Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
on September 3, 1938. For the purpose of the passenger manifest, he signed his name as Frederick Putnam Fennell (a rare use of his middle name).
Fennell also studied conducting with Sergei Koussevitzky at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
in 1942 (with fellow classmates Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss was a German-born American composer, conductor, and pianist.-Music career:He was born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His father was the philosopher and scholar Martin Fuchs...
, and Walter Hendl
Walter Hendl
Walter Hendl was an American conductor, composer and pianist.-Biography:Hendl was born in West New York, New Jersey, and later went on to study with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. From 1939 to 1941 he taught at Sarah Lawrence College in New York City...
). (He was appointed Koussevitzky’s assistant at the Center in 1948). During World War II Fennell served as the National Musical Advisor in the United Service Organizations
United Service Organizations
The United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...
.
Eastman Wind EnsembleEastman Wind EnsembleThe Eastman Wind Ensemble is an American concert band founded by Frederick Fennell at the Eastman School of Music in 1952. It is often credited with helping popularize wind music. Through the group, Fennell redefined wind ensemble to refer to a specific kind of wind band with only one player per...
While Fennell was recuperating from hepatitisHepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
for six weeks in 1952, he devised a new symphonic band organization. This involved scaling the typical concert band down to the wind section of a symphony orchestra allowing for greater clarity and fewer intonation
Intonation (music)
Intonation, in music, is a musician's realization of pitch accuracy, or the pitch accuracy of a musical instrument. Intonation may be flat, sharp, or both, successively or simultaneously.-Interval, melody, and harmony:...
difficulties. Fennell called a meeting of nearly 40 players in May 1952. Fennell himself explained that “I chose the best students in the school, and the best solo performers, and the best ensemble players”. On September 20, 1952 he held the first rehearsal for the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and he conducted the first concert at Eastman's Kilbourn Hall on February 8, 1953. Desiring expanded repertoire, Fennell mailed letters to nearly 400 composers around the world requesting appropriate compositions for the new group. The first composer to respond was Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
, followed by 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...
and Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
.
Fennell's recordings
While with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Tokyo Kosei Wind OrchestraTokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
The is a professional concert band that has long been regarded as one of the world's finest, perhaps rivaled only in recent years by the Dallas Wind Symphony ....
, and various other groups, Fennell recorded many of the standards of the wind band repertoire. He became one of America's most-recorded conductors. Starting with "American Concert Band Masterpieces" in 1953, Fennell recorded over 300 compositions on 29 albums for Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
. For Mercury, Fennell recorded with the Eastman-Rochester "Pops", London "Pops" (actually the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
), and free-lance groups of New York musicians. However, best known are the twenty-two of these 29 Mercury albums that were with Fennell's own Eastman Wind Ensemble
Eastman Wind Ensemble
The Eastman Wind Ensemble is an American concert band founded by Frederick Fennell at the Eastman School of Music in 1952. It is often credited with helping popularize wind music. Through the group, Fennell redefined wind ensemble to refer to a specific kind of wind band with only one player per...
. One of these albums, Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
recorded in 1958, was selected by Stereo Review
Stereo Review
Stereo Review was an American magazine first published in 1958 by Ziff-Davis with the title HiFi and Music Review. It was one of a handful of magazines then available for the individual interested in high fidelity. Throughout its life it published a blend of record and equipment reviews, articles...
magazine as one of the 50 best recordings of the Centenary of the Phonograph 1877-1977. The two volume Civil War - Its Music and Its Sounds, recorded in December 1960, was a notable set of recordings also made with the Eastman Wind Ensemble
Eastman Wind Ensemble
The Eastman Wind Ensemble is an American concert band founded by Frederick Fennell at the Eastman School of Music in 1952. It is often credited with helping popularize wind music. Through the group, Fennell redefined wind ensemble to refer to a specific kind of wind band with only one player per...
, this time performing on original instruments. In 1961, Fennell received a citation and a medal from the Congressional Committee for the Centennial of the Civil War for these recordings. In 2003, the 1958 Mercury album Winds in Hi Fi was chosen by the National Recording Preservation Board
National Recording Preservation Board
The United States National Recording Preservation Board selects recorded sounds for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. The National Recording Registry was initiated to maintain and preserve "sound recordings that are culturally, historically or aesthetically...
for the National Recording Registry
National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording...
.
Nearly all of Fennell's Mercury recordings were reissued on compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
. Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble were also featured in the premiere issuance of Mercury material on compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
. In 1986, 24 Sousa marches performed by the Eastman Wind Ensemble were released as a compact disc by Philips Records
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
, which now owned the Mercury catalog.
Fennell made the first symphonic digital recording in the United States for Telarc with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds, on April 4-5, 1978. This recording included the two Suites for Military Band by Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
. With the Dallas Wind Symphony, Fennell recorded five programs of music by Nelybel, Albeniz, Grainger, Bernstein and more, for Reference Recordings. Fennell also recorded for Brain, Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, Delos, King, Kosei, Ludwig, Premier Recordings, and Sine Qua Non Superba as well as the Library of Congress label.
Career After Eastman
Dr. Fennell was associate music director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (now the Minnesota OrchestraMinnesota Orchestra
The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Emil Oberhoffer founded the orchestra as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, and it gave its first performance on November 5 of that year. In 1968 the orchestra changed to its name to the Minnesota Orchestra...
) from 1962 to 1964. In September 1965 he became conductor-in-residence at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
where he conducted the symphony orchestra and also founded a wind ensemble. He also served as the resident conductor of the Miami Philharmonic from 1974 to 1975. He was also principal guest conductor of the Interlochen Arts Academy and Dallas Wind Symphony
Dallas Wind Symphony
The Dallas Wind Symphony is a professional concert band based in Dallas, Texas .The DWS was founded in 1985 by Kim Campbell and Southern Methodist University music professor Howard Dunn...
. At the invitation of its players, he was appointed the initial conductor of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
The is a professional concert band that has long been regarded as one of the world's finest, perhaps rivaled only in recent years by the Dallas Wind Symphony ....
in 1984. http://www.tkwo.jp/english/about/fennell.html
On the podium, Fennell evinced a courtly yet commanding manner despite his five foot, one inch stature. He was known to take charge of a room with just his words, and his conducting was extremely animated. His conducting workshops were famous for including calisthenics and baton technique exercises in swimming pools. He remained highly active in the world of conducting until a few months before his death at the age of ninety at his home in Siesta Key, Florida. At the time he was conductor laureate of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
The is a professional concert band that has long been regarded as one of the world's finest, perhaps rivaled only in recent years by the Dallas Wind Symphony ....
, principal guest conductor of the Dallas Wind Symphony
Dallas Wind Symphony
The Dallas Wind Symphony is a professional concert band based in Dallas, Texas .The DWS was founded in 1985 by Kim Campbell and Southern Methodist University music professor Howard Dunn...
http://www.dws.org/ffennell.htm, and professor emeritus of the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
Frost School of Music.
Awards and honors
Dr. Fennell received Columbia University's Alice M. Ditson Conductor's AwardDitson Conductor's Award
The Ditson Conductor's Award, established in 1945, is the oldest award honoring conductors for their commitment to the performance of American music. The US$5,000 purse endowed by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University was increased in 1999 from US$1,000.Upon the death of Alice M. Ditson,...
in 1969, was presented the Star of the Order from the John Philip Sousa Memorial Foundation in 1985, received an honorary doctorate from Eastman in 1988, and was inducted into the National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors
National Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors
The Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors was established on the campus of what was then known as Troy State University in Troy, Alabama, by the National Band Association in 1979...
in 1990. He received the Theodore Thomas Award of the Conductor's Guild in 1994. http://www.conductorsguild.org/main.asp?pageID=20 He was also inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2003, he received the Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award
Charles E. Lutton Man Of Music Award
The Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award is one of the highest honors awarded to members of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity for a lifelong achievement in uplifting the world through art and music. Its recipients include musical legends such as Aaron Copland, W. Francis McBeth, James Levine,...
from Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music...
at its national convention in Washington, DC.http://www.sinfonia.org/News/SN-2004-12-07.asp
Fennell was said to be most fond of the honorary doctorate he was awarded from Eastman, being inducted as an honorary chief of the Kiowa Nation in the 1960s, and receiving a medal of honor from Interlochen in 1989. He made frequent appearances guest conducting such ensembles as the Boston Pops Orchestra
Boston Pops Orchestra
The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in playing light classical and popular music....
1949 to 1978, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Its regular concert season features gala concerts, classics programming of core repertoire, Pops...
, Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
, London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, the United States Marine Band
United States Marine Band
The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the United States...
, Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Interlochen Arts Camp. In 1997, Fennell became the first civilian to conduct an entire concert with the United States Marine Band; and in July 1998 he repeated this at a concert in the Kennedy Center celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Marine Band.
Dr. Fennell was a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music...
, the national fraternity for men in music (initiated into the Fraternity's Alpha Nu Chapter at the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
in 1934), and Kappa Kappa Psi
Kappa Kappa Psi
Kappa Kappa Psi is a fraternity for college and university band members. It was founded on November 27, 1919 at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in Stillwater, Oklahoma. William Scroggs, now regarded as the "Founder," together with "Mr. Kappa Kappa Psi" A...
, the National Honorary Band Fraternity.
Frederick Fennell Hall was dedicated in Kofu, Japan on July 17, 1992. On April 4, 2006, the Interlochen Center for the Arts
Interlochen Center for the Arts
Interlochen Center for the Arts is a privately owned, 1,200 acre arts education institution in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly 15 miles southwest of Traverse City...
opened up state of the art music and academic libraries, with the music library named in honor and memory of Dr. Fennell and his wife, Elizabeth Ludwig Fennell. http://www.interlochen.org/department/music-library
At the conductor's request, his ashes were scattered in the woods at Interlochen, Michigan.
Fennell's writings
Fennell wrote several books: Time and the Winds, a Short History of the Use of Wind Instruments in the Orchestra, Band and the Wind Ensemble, 1954; The Drummer’s Heritage, a Collection of Popular Airs and Official U.S. Army Music for Fifes and Drums, 1956; and The Wind Ensemble, 1988. Fennell also edited for several music publishers: Boosey & HawkesBoosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
, Carl Fisher, Theodore Presser, and Sam Fox
Sam Fox
Sam Fox is an American businessman in St. Louis. He was the United States Ambassador to Belgium from April 11, 2007 until January 2, 2009. President George W...
. For the Fennell Editions at Ludwig Music he edited over 50 scores for band performance, including many marches. One of these editions published in 1981 was for his favorite march, National Emblem
National Emblem
National Emblem is a march composed in 1902 and published in 1906 by Edwin Eugene Bagley. It is a standard of the American march repertoire, appearing in eleven published editions....
by Edwin Eugene Bagley
Edwin Eugene Bagley
Edwin Eugene Bagley was born in Craftsbury, Vermont on May 29, 1857 and died in Keene, New Hampshire on January 29, 1922. He is famous for composing the National Emblem....
. He also wrote a series of sixteen articles published in The Instrumentalist under the heading ‘Basic Band Repertory’ beginning in April 1975 and concluding in February 1984. These articles were devoted to what Fennell called "...indestructible masterpieces for band that have survived the ravages of time and many an inept conductor".
Fennell was commissioned by Grenadilla Music to write a major article on 20th Century band composers and their music. The article was published in volume one of "Panorama of 20th Century Classical Music" subtitled, "BAND! (Wind Ensembles, Brass & Concert Bands" and is currently available at www.grenadillamusic.com.
External links
- Dallas Wind Symphony conducted by Frederick Fennell on the audiophile label: Reference Recordings
- Fennell, Frederick: "The Sousa March: A Personal View"
- Orchestral development of the kettledrum from Purcell through Beethoven. Fennell's MM thesis—University of Rochester. From Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
Interviews
- Frederick Fennell interview by Bruce Duffie