Fred Fox (July 14, 1914 – May 21, 2019) was an American

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

player, brass instrument teacher, and namesake of the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

Fred Fox School of Music.

Musician

Fred Fox attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in the early 1930s, where he also played with the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, conducted by

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

, and performed as solo French horn player with the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National Mem ...

(1931–32). In 1934, Fox left Juilliard to play with the

Minneapolis Symphony The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Em ...

, and then at the age of 21, he moved to California to join the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

. Fox spent the rest of his career in Los Angeles, touring with

Xavier Cugat Xavier Cugat (; 1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was a Spanish musician and bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. In New York City ...

(1954),

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

(1956), and the

Roger Wagner Chorale The Roger Wagner Chorale is an American choir founded by choral musician and educator Roger Wagner in 1946. History In 1937, Roger Wagner joined the MGM chorus in Hollywood and was subsequently appointed Music Director of St. Joseph's Churc ...

(1965), and playing on the soundtracks of many motion picture films for both

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

, including ''The Flight of the Phoenix'' and ''Patton''. His Hollywood work was recently featured in the 2015 documentary ''1M1: Hollywood Horns of the Golden Years''. Fox has also played on albums for a variety of musicians, including

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

and

Tommy Sands Thomas Adrian Sands (born August 27, 1937) is an American pop music singer and actor. Working in show business as a child, Sands became an overnight sensation and instant teen idol when he appeared on ''Kraft Television Theater'' in January 19 ...

Teacher

Fox served on the faculties of

California State University-Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest ...

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, Pepperdine College, and the

Music Academy of the West The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California. Overview The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...

. He was also professor of brass instruments at

California State University-Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

. His students include Henry Sigismonti, Hyman Markowitz, and Richard Linenhahn, University of Arizona professor

Daniel Katzen Daniel Katzen is a French horn teacher and player, and, since September 2008, has been the Associate Professor of Horn at the University of Arizona's Fred Fox School of Music in Tucson. Prior to that, he was Second Horn in the Boston Symphony O ...

, and Jim Thatcher. Fox has also authored several books, including ''Essentials of Brass Playing'', published in 1974, which is still considered an important resource for brass musicians

Honors and awards

In 2011, Fox was honored with the Punto Award at the International Horn Symposium in San Francisco, which is given to individuals who have made a major contribution at the regional or national level to the art of horn playing. In 2012, the University of Arizona named their “Fred Fox Graduate Wind Quintet” after him, and in 2015, the university renamed its music school, The Fred Fox School of Music, when his son, Alan C. Fox, made a donation of $20 million to the school.

Personal life

Fox was born in Brooklyn in 1914. He and his late wife Freida, a trumpet player, had two sons, David and Alan. At the age of 104, Fox was still active, teaching music, traveling, and engaging in the community. Fred Fox died in May 2019 at the age of 104.Fred Fox Obituary
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Discography

With

Pete Rugolo Pietro "Pete" Rugolo (December 25, 1915 – October 16, 2011) was an American jazz composer, arranger and record producer. Life and career Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settle ...

*''

Introducing Pete Rugolo ''Introducing Pete Rugolo'' is an album by bandleader, composer, arranger and conductor Pete Rugolo featuring performances recorded in 1954 and released on the Columbia label, initially as a 10-inch LP, then with an additional four tracks as a 12- ...

'' (Columbia, 1954) *''

Adventures in Rhythm ''Adventures in Rhythm'' is an album by bandleader, composer, arranger and conductor Pete Rugolo featuring performances recorded in 1954 and originally released on the Columbia Records, Columbia label as a 12-inch LP.Minn, MMaynard Ferguson Discog ...

'' (Columbia, 1954) *''

New Sounds by Pete Rugolo ''New Sounds by Pete Rugolo'' is an album by composer, arranger and conductor Pete Rugolo, featuring performances recorded in 1954 and 1955 for Columbia Records and first released on the budget Harmony label in 1957.Minn, MMaynard Ferguson Disc ...

'' (Harmony, 1954–55,

957 Year 957 ( CMLVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * September 6 – Liudolf, the eldest son of King Otto I, dies of a violent fever nea ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Fred American classical horn players 1914 births 2019 deaths American centenarians 20th-century classical musicians Men centenarians 20th-century American male musicians