RIP Fred Fennell

[Chris S]

I don't know how many of you are as interested in the band world as I am, however I got this sad email from a former teacher...

But first, let me just say that Fred was a truly incredible man, full of joy. I had a chance to meet him about a year ago, and it was a life changing experience. Here's this funny old man who is one of the GODS of the wind conducting world (FYI, he's the one that started the Eastman Wind Ensemble), wearing one of the worst sweaters that you've ever seen in your life... and he's so happy to see you. He never understood how great he was, and how famous he was. It always thrilled him to know that someone young knew who he was... Good Luck getting the band going wherever youre headed Fred, Rest In Peace.

The email:

> I`ve managed to reach some of you by phone, others not, and I did not
want to leave this as a voice message.
>
> I want you, and the greater music community to know that my father died
peacefully in his sleep early this morning, Tuesday, December 7, 2004.
Elizabeth and I were by his side. I had promised him that I would do all I
could to get him back to Siesta Key so he could watch the sun set over the
ocean. With the help of Hospice, he arrived home in time to see the
brilliant orange and pinks in the western skies last evening. A bit before
Midnight, dad told me he was "frustrated and disappointed." When I asked
him,"Why?" he replied, "There`s no drummer here yet. I can`t die without a
drummer!" I told him that I loved him, and that "Heaven`s best drummer was
on the way." Moments later he said, "I hear him! I hear him! I`m OK
now." This was my final conversation with my dad.
>
> I was blessed to be able to dress my father in his finest set of tails
after he died, complete with the usual struggle with his tie. Elizabeth
asked if he could be "dressed up" and I could think of nothing finer for a
lasting memory. Dad asked to be cremated and that I scatter his ashes in
the woods at Interlochen, Michigan this summer. This, of course, I will do.
>
> Elizabeth is OK at this point. We are closely watching her, monitoring
her blood sugar levels and seeing that she gets the diet and rest she needs
after such a life transition.
>
> There will be a small Memorial Service at a church in Siesta Key. No
date or time has been set yet. As knowledge of my father`s death is
communicated, please keep both Elizabeth and me in your prayers.
>
> Fondly > Cathy Fennell Martensen

[gary]

thesonandall, when I was a young student at NTSU, like you, the Eastman Wind Ensemble was just about all I and my colleagues listened to. We had no more enthusiasm for listening to Michigan play symphonic transcriptions of Wagner.

I have studied with Fennell proteges (he wouldn't call them that) and have met him and he truly was a man who seemed a bit surprised at his success. On one hand, he was at the right place at the right time, and grew with his increasing responsibilities, but to do that you gotta have what it takes, and he did.

He has brought me untold hours of joy. I've still got within arm reach of me the original LP recordings on Mercury. Maybe I'll give a little listen to Vaughn Williams or Holst tonight after rehearsal. Another Titan returning to Olympus. :cry:

[GenericGuy]

When I was a sophmore at North Texas Fennell was there for doing clinics and masterclasses. He was definitely getting to his final stages of life, but he still took the podium and ackwardly conducted us through some essential wind music.

His contribution to the development of the Wind Symphony is extremely important. He may have been in the right place at the right time, but it also would have been easy for somebody to miss those opportunities. Looking at my CD collection I only have him conducting the Eastman Wind Symphony through the Holst Second Suite. Guess I should take notice and expand my collection some more.

[goodsax]

Apparently, one of the people Cathy, or her family, was able to reach by phone was John Hausey, our community concert band conductor, who was a long time friend of Fred Fennell and worked with him during many music camps in the '70s and '80s. He told me the family had contacted him a couple of hours after Fred's passing. I became interested in his work after joining the community concert band and bought a couple of Fennell's CDs which turned out to be inspiring examples of how the pieces we were working on should be played. I was particularly interested in his performance of "Slava!" because I play the soprano soli for that piece in our band.