William Frederick Mills (March 15, 1935 – September 7, 2009) was a Canadian trumpeter and educator best known for his work with the

Canadian Brass The Canadian Brass is a Canadian brass quintet formed in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, by Charles Daellenbach (tuba) and Gene Watts (trombone), with horn player Graeme Page and trumpeters Stuart Laughton and Bill Phillips completing the quintet. ...

quintet from 1972 to 1996. He also served as a professor for the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

from 1996 until 2009. He also played solo, first-chair trumpet with the American Symphony Orchestra and the

Houston Symphony The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, ...

Orchestra under

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

, the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

Orchestra, the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the National Arts Center Orchestra of Canada, the

Casals Festival The Casals Festival is a classical music event celebrated every year in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in honor of classical musician Pablo Casals. Background The festival was founded in 1956 by Pablo Casals. It was promoted by Teodoro Moscoso and Davi ...

Orchestra in Puerto Rico and others, according to a biography from the University of Georgia. He 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 elit ...

of Music and held honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory in Boston and

Hartwick College Hartwick College is a private liberal arts college in Oneonta, New York. The institution's origin is rooted in the founding of Hartwick Seminary in 1797 through the will of John Christopher Hartwick. In 1927, the Seminary moved to expand into a ...

. Mills earned a bachelor of science degree in music from Hartwick in 1957. The Canadian Brass ensemble performed hundreds of his arrangements including

Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written, according to its oldest extant sources, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The piece opens with a toccata section, followed by a fugue that ends in a coda. Scho ...

, which appeared on the album ''The Pachelbel Canon and Other Great Baroque Hits'', released in 1980. On September 7, 2009, Mills was killed in a car crash in Walton County, about 45 miles east of Atlanta. Mills was driving to his

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

home from Atlanta's airport after a trip to Quincinetto, Italy where he was a soloist at the Pentabrass Festival.UGA music professor, renowned trumpeter killed in wreck
/ref> A CD in Mills' honor was released by AppleJazz Records. Produced by Louise Baranger and Charlie Bertini, ''To Fred With Love, The World's Finest Brass Players Pay Tribute to Fred Mills'', includes performances by Canadian Brass, Phil Smith, Joe Alessi, Arturo Sandoval, Charles Schlueter, Allen Vizzutti, Marvin Stamm, Warren Vaché, Chris Martin, the Pentabrass, the German Brass and many others. 100% of the profits from the CD benefit the W. Fred Mills Scholarship fund at the University of Georgia, Athens.

Partial discography

* Scriabin - The Poem of Ecstasy - Stokowski - Houston Symphony WITH THE CANADIAN BRASS: * Make We Joy (1973) * Royal Fanfare (1973) * A Touch of Brass, Canadian Brass in Paris (1973) * Rag-Ma-Tazz (1974) * Canadian Brass: Pachelbel to Joplin (1974) * Raffi's Christmas Album a 1983 music album by children's entertainer Raffi * Unexplored Territory (1977) * Canadian Brass Plus Organ (1977) * Toccata, Fugues & Other Diversions (1977) * Canadian Brass Encore (1977) * Bells and Brass (1978, with Gordon Slater) * Mostly Fats; Fats Waller's Greatest Hits (1979) * Pachelbel Canon & Other Great Baroque Hits (1980) * Christmas with the Canadian Brass (1981) * The Village Band (1981) * Champions (1983) * Canadian Brass Greatest Hits (1983) * High, Bright, Light and Clear (1983) * Ain't Misbehavin' and Other Fats Waller Hits (1984) * Brass in Berlin (1984) * Canadian Brass Live! (1984) * A Canadian Brass Christmas (1985) * Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (1986) * Basin Street (1987) * Strike Up the Band — Canadian Brass Plays Gershwin (1987) * Bach: The Art of Fugue (1988) * The Mozart Album (1988) * Canadian Brass More Greatest Hits (1988) * Best of the Canadian Brass (1989) * Gabrieli/Monteverdi: Antiphonal Music (1990) * English Renaissance Music (1990) * Super Hits, The Christmas Album (1990) * Beethoven Fifth Symphony & Overtures (1991) * Red, White & Brass: Made in the USA (1991) * The Essential Canadian Brass (1991) * Red Hot Jazz: The Dixieland Album (1992) * Wagner for Brass (1992) * Rejoice! with Brass and Voice (1993) * An Evening of Brass Theater (1994) * Brass on Broadway (1994) * Gabrieli for Brass (1994) * Noel (1994) * Bolero & Other Great Melodies (1995) * Brass Busters (1995) * Fireworks: Baroque Brass Favorites (1995) * Go for Baroque! (1995) * Ragtime (1995) * Renaissance Men (1995) * Swingtime! (1995) VIDEO/DVD: * Brass Theater II with Star of Indiana (1995) * Brass Theater III with Star of Indiana (1996) * Canadian Brass Home Movies (Grammy nomination)

References

Louise Baranger Fred Mills Archives

External links

*
University of Georgia memorial
* * http://www.applejazz.com * http://www.TrumpetDiva.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Fred 1935 births 2009 deaths Canadian trumpeters Male trumpeters Road incident deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) University of Georgia faculty 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century Canadian male musicians