Eastman Wind Ensemble
Encyclopedia
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 part, and focusing on original wind music rather than orchestral transcriptions
. The Eastman Wind Ensemble has premiered over 150 works, including works by composers Bernard Rands
and Joseph Schwantner
.
In 1987, the Eastman Wind Ensemble was nominated for a Grammy Award
for Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (with or without orchestra) for its 1986 album Carnaval, a collaboration with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
concert band
Concert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
founded by 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...
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 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 part, and focusing on original wind music rather than orchestral transcriptions
Transcription (music)
In music, transcription can mean notating a piece or a sound which was previously unnotated, as, for example, an improvised jazz solo. Further examples include ethnomusicological notation of oral traditions of folk music, such as Béla Bartók's and Ralph Vaughan Williams' collections of the national...
. The Eastman Wind Ensemble has premiered over 150 works, including works by composers Bernard Rands
Bernard Rands
Bernard Rands is a composer of contemporary classical music.Rands studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna in Darmstadt, Germany, and with Luigi Dallapiccola and Luciano Berio in Milan, Italy.He held residencies...
and Joseph Schwantner
Joseph Schwantner
Joseph C. Schwantner is a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer and educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize....
.
In 1987, the Eastman Wind Ensemble was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (with or without orchestra) for its 1986 album Carnaval, a collaboration with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
.
Conductors
- Frederick FennellFrederick FennellFrederick 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...
- 1952–1961 - A. Clyde RollerA. Clyde RollerArchie Clyde Roller was an American music professor and conductor.Roller, a native of Rogersville, Missouri, received his musical education at the Eastman School of Music, graduating in 1941...
- 1962–1964 - Donald HunsbergerDonald HunsbergerDonald Hunsberger was the conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble from 1965 until 2001. He also held the position of Professor of conducting at Eastman...
- 1965–2001 - Mark ScatterdayMark ScatterdayMark Davis Scatterday is an American conductor.On January 28, 2002, after an extensive national search, the Eastman School named Scatterday the fourth conductor of the world-renowned Eastman Wind Ensemble, succeeding his former teacher, Donald Hunsberger, who had conducted the ensemble for 37...
- 2002–present