The Eastman Wind Ensemble was founded by conductor

Frederick Fennell Frederick Fennell (July 2, 1914 – December 7, 2004) was an internationally recognized conductor and one of the primary figures in promoting the Eastman Wind Ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and grea ...

at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

in 1952. The ensemble is often credited with helping redefine the performance of wind band music. At the time,

concert bands A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety ...

used all of their players for every piece, regardless of the piece's original

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

. If there was not a part for a specific instrument on a piece — for example, a contrabass clarinet or a string bass— the conductor or publisher would have an

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

add one or simply have that instrument double another instrument— the string bass could play the tuba part, for instance. Also, bigger was better, and even though there would normally be three clarinet parts, many university concert bands would have 20 or 30 clarinets, or more. Fennell redefined the wind band by having one player on each part, using only the instrumentation for each piece specified by the composer. Fennell coined the term "wind ensemble" to refer to this specific kind of wind band. The repertoire of the group included standard concert band pieces, but also chamber music for winds, and the instrumentation varied as required. In contrast to typical concert band practice, the Eastman Wind Ensemble kept its focus on original wind music rather than

orchestral An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

transcriptions. The Eastman Wind Ensemble has premiered over 150 works, including works by composers

Bernard Rands Bernard Rands (born 2 March 1934 in Sheffield, England) is a British-American contemporary classical music composer. He studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Mader ...

and

Joseph Schwantner Joseph Clyde Schwantner (born March 22, 1943, Chicago, Illinois) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer, educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2002. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize. Schwantner ...

. A series of commercial recordings on the Mercury label spread the influence of Fennell's wind ensemble concept far beyond the geographic reach of the group's concerts, and helped form a new generation of wind band educators and musicians far beyond Rochester. In 1987, the Eastman Wind Ensemble was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (with or without orchestra) for its 1986 album ''Carnaval'', a collaboration with trumpeter

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

Conductors

- 1952–1961 *

A. Clyde Roller Archibald Clyde Roller (October 13, 1914 – October 16, 2005) was an American music professor, conductor, and oboist. Roller, a native of Rogersville, Missouri, received his musical education at the Eastman School of Music, graduating in 1941. ...

- 1962–1964 *

Donald Hunsberger Donald Hunsberger (born August 2, 1932 in Souderton, Pennsylvania) is an American conductor and arranger. He served as the conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble from 1965 until 2001. He also held the position of Professor of conducting at the Eas ...

- 1965–2001 *

Mark Scatterday Mark Davis Scatterday (born 1959) is an American conductor best known for his association with the Eastman School of Music, in which he is currently serving as conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. Education Scatterday earned a D.M.A. degree ...

- 2002–present

Selected discography

*''Carnaval'' (with

) (1987) *''The Civil War: Its Music and Its Sounds'' (1990) *''Danzante'' (2006) * ''Igor Stravinsky: Octet; L'Histoire du Soldat'' (2013)

References

External links

Eastman Wind Ensemble
American instrumental musical groups Musical groups established in 1952 Musical groups from Rochester, New York Concert bands Wind bands Summit Records artists 1952 establishments in New York (state) Centaur Records artists {{Authority control

Conductors

Selected discography

See also

References

External links