Acclaimed maestro to conduct at BGSU 's New Band Music Reading Clinic

The man widely regarded as the leader of the wind ensemble movement in the United States will be at the University Jan. 22-24 for the 46th annual New Band Music Reading Clinic, hosted by the College of Musical Arts.

Frederick Fennell, who founded the Eastman Wind Ensemble in 1952, remains one of the world's most active maestros at age 89. A professor emeritus at the University of Miami, he is principal guest conductor of the Dallas Wind Symphony and principal conductor of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra.

The Cleveland native, who will celebrate his 90th birthday on July 2, will be a guest conductor at two free, public concerts during the New Band Music Reading Clinic, which is expected to bring about 800 high school students, directors and guests to campus.

Fennell and Thomas Duffy, director of bands at Yale University, will be guest conductors for a Jan. 23 concert by the BGSU Symphonic Band. Directed by Bruce Moss, director of band activities at the University, the band will perform at 8 p.m. in Kobacker Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center. BGSU faculty members Charles Saenz, trumpet, and William Mathis, trombone, will be featured soloists.

On Jan. 24, also in Kobacker Hall, Fennell will join Carol Hayward, director of the BGSU marching, athletic and University bands, as guest conductors at a 2 p.m. performance by the BGSU Concert Band, directed by Hubert Toney Jr.

Fennell earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he subsequently taught and, in 1988, received an honorary doctorate. The Fennell/Eastman Wind Ensemble recording of Percy Grainger's "Linconshire Posy" was named one of the "Fifty Best Recordings of the Centenary of the Phonograph, 1877-1977" by Stereo Review.

In 1978, Fennell was conductor of the Cleveland Symphonic Winds when he made the first symphonic digital recording in the United States for Telarc Records.

He has conducted numerous orchestras, including frequent appearances with the Boston Pops, and been principal guest conductor at the Interlochen Arts Academy. Medals of honor from Interlochen and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic are among his many awards, and in 1990, he was inducted into the National Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame for Distinguished Band Conductors.

In 1994, Fennell received the Theodore Thomas Award from the Conductors Guild, Inc., for outstanding achievement as a conductor and extraordinary service to colleagues. Leonard Bernstein has also been among the 13 recipients of the award.

Duffy, who is deputy dean of the Yale School of Music, will also conduct the concluding concert at the BGSU event, along with Thomas Dvorak, director of bands at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. They will lead the high school Honor Wind Ensemble and the Honor Concert Band in a free 3 p.m. performance Jan. 24 in Kobacker Hall.

Duffy, also a composer and holder of a doctorate from Cornell University, was named Outstanding Music Educator of the Year in 1996 by the Connecticut Music Educators Association. Dvorak, meanwhile, received an Outstanding Secondary Educator of America award in 1974 and has been a five-time recipient of the National Band Association's Citation of Excellence.

Roughly 90 schools will be represented at the clinic, including three with bands that will headline its two opening concerts. For a complete schedule of events, contact the BGSU Band Activities Office at 2-2186.