Frederick I. Sturm (March 21, 1951 – August 24, 2014) was a jazz composer, arranger and teacher. Sturm studied at

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducati ...

, the

University of North Texas College of Music The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school among the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. It developed the first jazz studies ...

, and 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 ...

. He played trombone and performed with the jazz nonet

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from 1974 to 1977. He served as Director of Jazz Studies at Lawrence University from 1977 to 1991, then joined the Eastman School of Music faculty as professor of jazz composition/arranging, conductor of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble and Studio Orchestra, and chair of the Eastman Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media Department. In 2002, he returned home to Wisconsin to direct the Lawrence University Jazz and Improvisational Music Department and hold the Kimberly-Clark Endowed Professorship in Music.

Conductor/clinician

Sturm has conducted the HR (Hessischer Rundfunk) Big Band in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

; the NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk) Big Band in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

; the Bohuslän Big Band in Gothenburg, Sweden; the Klüvers Big Band in Aarhus, Denmark; the Arendal Big Band in Arendal, Norway; and collegiate and state honors high school jazz ensembles in the U.S. He has served as a visiting professor at Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium (Royal Conservatory) in Denmark and the Associazone Italian Gordon per l'Apprendimento Musicale in Rome. ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine has cited his university jazz ensembles with 9 Student Music Awards. He was a co-owner of Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camps.

Composer/arranger

Sturm's ''Migrations'' contained

indigenous music Indigenous music is a term for the traditional music of the indigenous peoples of the world, that is, the music of an "original" ethnic group that inhabits any geographic region alongside more recent immigrants who may be greater in number. The ter ...

from 22 countries and was premiered by vocalist

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rap ...

and the NDR Big Band in 2007. He toured Europe the following summer. He arranged and recorded two albums: ''Libertango: Hommage an Astor Piazzolla'' and ''Do It Again: Three Decades of Steely Dan'' with the HR Big Band. ''Abstract Image'' won the 2003 ASCAP/IAJE Commission in Honor of Quincy Jones. He is the Artistic Director, composer, and arranger for the Baseball Music Project, a concert program collaboration with the Baseball Hall of Fame that has been performed by the

Boston Pops The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Sym ...

and symphony orchestras in Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Miami, Detroit, Indianapolis, Phoenix, and San Diego. While studying at the

in the 1970s, Sturm was a member of the

One O'Clock Lab Band One O'Clock Lab Band is an ensemble of the Jazz Studies division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton, Texas. Since the 1970s, the band's albums have received seven Grammy Award nominations, including two for ''Lab 2009''. ...

Publications

Sturm is the author of ''Changes Over Time: The Evolution of Jazz Arranging'' (Advance Music), ''Maria Schneider: Evanescence'' (

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-bas ...

), and ''Kenny Wheeler: Collected Works on ECM'' (Universal Edition). His compositions and arrangements have been published by Universal Edition, Kendor Music, Sierra Music Publications, Lorenz, Neil A. Kjos Music Company, and Alfred Music. He has received commission and research grants from ASCAP, International Association for Jazz Education,

NARAS The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy A ...

, NEA,

NEH The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, and the American Composers Forum.

References

External links

Fred Sturm's website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm, Fred 1951 births American jazz composers American male jazz composers 2014 deaths Lawrence University faculty Lawrence University alumni People from McHenry County, Illinois University of North Texas College of Music alumni Eastman School of Music alumni Jazz musicians from Illinois