About Frederick Fennell
Frederick Fennell /fəˈnɛl/ (July 2, 1914 – December 7, 2004) was an American conductor and one of the primary figures who promoted the Eastman Wind Ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the US and abroad. In Fennell's New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted as saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa." == Early life == Fennell was born on July 2, 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio. He chose piccolo as his primary instrument at the age of seven, as drummer in the fife-and-drum corps at the family's encampment called Camp Zeke. He owned his first drum set at age ten. In the John Adams High School orchestra, Fennell performed as the kettledrummer and served as the band's drum major. His studies at the Interlochen Arts Camp (then the National Music Camp) included being chosen by famed bandmaster Albert Austin Harding as the bass drummer in the National High School Band in 1931. The band was conducted by John Philip Sousa on July 26, the program including the premiere of Sousa's Northern Pines march. Fennell himself conducted at Interlochen at the age of seventeen. Fennell formed a compatible and fruitful relationship with the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
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