Willis Page (born September 18, 1918, Rochester, N.Y., died January 9, 2013.), was a musician and symphony orchestra conductor.[1] He conducted three major US orchestras – in Nashville, Tennessee, Des Moines, Iowa, and Jacksonville, Florida. He was also the associate conductor in Buffalo, New York, where he conducted three quarters of all concerts and has been guest conductor for several orchestras including the Boston Pops Orchestra (seven times), Denver, St Louis, Rochester, Hartford, Muncie, Yomiuri, Toronto and Jerusalem.[2] He was the first US conductor of a major Japanese symphony orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. He was the first conductor to hire black musicians in a classical orchestra in the USA.
His musical career was interrupted in 1943 when he joined the US army; he worked as a German translator for the General of the 95th Infantry and was awarded the Bronze Star. Immediately after the war, his linguistic talents were turned to assisting the displaced people of Germany. In total, he had to deal with over 100,000 individuals.[5]
In 1946, he was at the forefront of a campaign to raise aid in the US for the starving peoples of Eastern Europe. In three months his campaign raised over $25,000.[6]
Careeredit
Bostonedit
After the War, he returned to the BSO where he became Assistant Principal; he was also principal bass for Arthur Fiedler’s Boston Pops Orchestra. In 1952, he made his debut as a conductor, leading the Boston Pops in front of an audience of 20,000. In 1954, he conducted 65 members of the BSO in the first stereo recordings ever made (at the time referred to as binaural recordings) – eleven recordings in total, recorded for Cook Laboratories.[7] At the start of 1955, he was appointed as Associate Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (under Josef Krips),[8] with whom he had already made eleven appearances as guest conductor.[9] In 1957, he taught Ortiz Walton, the first African American to be a member of a major American orchestra: Walton was bass player with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Willis Page & The Orchestral Society of Boston[10]
Premiere stereo recording releases (1954)
Stravinsky, Villa-Lobos & Bach
Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet
Brahms First Symphony
Haydn: Military Symphony
Mozart: Symphony #40
Beethoven: Fifth Symphony
DuBois: Seven Last Words of Christ
Tempo Vivace
Modern Orchestral Textures
Nashvilleedit
After five years in Buffalo, Page moved to Nashville to take up the post of Music Director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. At the time, members of orchestras were engaged part-time and normally had a separate full-time career, often in teaching. One of Page’s first decisions at Nashville was to change that by employing sixteen full-time core musicians. He also took the radical decision that all musicians would be employed on the basis of musical skill, regardless of ethnicity, sex or religion: the NSO thereby became the first US orchestra whose membership was multi-racial.[5] In 1962, he took fourteen months leave from the Nashville orchestra to become conductor of Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra; he was the first US citizen to hold such a position. On arrival at Tokyo Airport, he was kidnapped and held captive for over half an hour. In 1965, he secured a grant of half a million dollars from the Ford Foundation, as part of a huge grant to support symphony orchestras in the USA. McNeil Lowry, then VP of the Ford Foundation wrote: "Mr. Page's application in 1961 on behalf of the Nashville Symphony had a profound impact on the FF's 1965 decision to grant 85 million dollars to the Symphony Orchestras of the United States.” In 1968, he became Professor of Conducting at Drake University in Des Moines.[11]
Jacksonvilleedit
He was the conductor and musical director of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra from 1971 to 1983. After 30 years of making music, the Orchestra had officially ceased to be in 1970. Page was largely responsible for its revival, taking the newly reformed orchestra on tour to some of America’s major concert halls and commissioning a series of new pieces by major composers.[12] He founded the St Johns River City Band of which he was also conductor in 1985. In 1989, following a brief return to Japan, he established, the First Coast Pops Orchestra which brought the Boston Pops approach to Florida via weekend concerts held at the Jacksonville Beach Flag Pavilion.
After retiring from working in music full-time, Willis Page continued to deliver talks and lectures in the art of conducting, to participate actively in local Christian organisations and to lead a number of a cappella church vocal groups.
Referencesedit
^Scanlan, Dan (January 10, 2013). "Willis Page, Jacksonville's 'Beloved Maestro' dies at 94". The Florida Times-Union (at Jacksonville.com). Retrieved 28 May 2013.
willis, page, born, september, 1918, rochester, died, january, 2013, musician, symphony, orchestra, conductor, conducted, three, major, orchestras, nashville, tennessee, moines, iowa, jacksonville, florida, also, associate, conductor, buffalo, york, where, con. Willis Page born September 18 1918 Rochester N Y died January 9 2013 was a musician and symphony orchestra conductor 1 He conducted three major US orchestras in Nashville Tennessee Des Moines Iowa and Jacksonville Florida He was also the associate conductor in Buffalo New York where he conducted three quarters of all concerts and has been guest conductor for several orchestras including the Boston Pops Orchestra seven times Denver St Louis Rochester Hartford Muncie Yomiuri Toronto and Jerusalem 2 He was the first US conductor of a major Japanese symphony orchestra the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra He was the first conductor to hire black musicians in a classical orchestra in the USA Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Boston 2 2 Nashville 2 3 Jacksonville 3 ReferencesEarly life editHe attended the Eastman School of Music 3 where he graduated with distinction having been awarded double Performance Degrees on the Double Bass and the Tuba 4 Willis was a protege of Pierre Monteux 4 In 1940 he was invited by Serge Koussevitsky to join the Boston Symphony Orchestra BSO His musical career was interrupted in 1943 when he joined the US army he worked as a German translator for the General of the 95th Infantry and was awarded the Bronze Star Immediately after the war his linguistic talents were turned to assisting the displaced people of Germany In total he had to deal with over 100 000 individuals 5 In 1946 he was at the forefront of a campaign to raise aid in the US for the starving peoples of Eastern Europe In three months his campaign raised over 25 000 6 Career editBoston edit After the War he returned to the BSO where he became Assistant Principal he was also principal bass for Arthur Fiedler s Boston Pops Orchestra In 1952 he made his debut as a conductor leading the Boston Pops in front of an audience of 20 000 In 1954 he conducted 65 members of the BSO in the first stereo recordings ever made at the time referred to as binaural recordings eleven recordings in total recorded for Cook Laboratories 7 At the start of 1955 he was appointed as Associate Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under Josef Krips 8 with whom he had already made eleven appearances as guest conductor 9 In 1957 he taught Ortiz Walton the first African American to be a member of a major American orchestra Walton was bass player with the Boston Symphony Orchestra Willis Page amp The Orchestral Society of Boston 10 Premiere stereo recording releases 1954 Stravinsky Villa Lobos amp Bach Tchaikovsky Romeo amp Juliet Brahms First Symphony Haydn Military Symphony Mozart Symphony 40 Beethoven Fifth Symphony DuBois Seven Last Words of Christ Tempo Vivace Modern Orchestral TexturesNashville edit After five years in Buffalo Page moved to Nashville to take up the post of Music Director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra At the time members of orchestras were engaged part time and normally had a separate full time career often in teaching One of Page s first decisions at Nashville was to change that by employing sixteen full time core musicians He also took the radical decision that all musicians would be employed on the basis of musical skill regardless of ethnicity sex or religion the NSO thereby became the first US orchestra whose membership was multi racial 5 In 1962 he took fourteen months leave from the Nashville orchestra to become conductor of Tokyo s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra he was the first US citizen to hold such a position On arrival at Tokyo Airport he was kidnapped and held captive for over half an hour In 1965 he secured a grant of half a million dollars from the Ford Foundation as part of a huge grant to support symphony orchestras in the USA McNeil Lowry then VP of the Ford Foundation wrote Mr Page s application in 1961 on behalf of the Nashville Symphony had a profound impact on the FF s 1965 decision to grant 85 million dollars to the Symphony Orchestras of the United States In 1968 he became Professor of Conducting at Drake University in Des Moines 11 Jacksonville edit He was the conductor and musical director of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra from 1971 to 1983 After 30 years of making music the Orchestra had officially ceased to be in 1970 Page was largely responsible for its revival taking the newly reformed orchestra on tour to some of America s major concert halls and commissioning a series of new pieces by major composers 12 He founded the St Johns River City Band of which he was also conductor in 1985 In 1989 following a brief return to Japan he established the First Coast Pops Orchestra which brought the Boston Pops approach to Florida via weekend concerts held at the Jacksonville Beach Flag Pavilion After retiring from working in music full time Willis Page continued to deliver talks and lectures in the art of conducting to participate actively in local Christian organisations and to lead a number of a cappella church vocal groups References edit Scanlan Dan January 10 2013 Willis Page Jacksonville s Beloved Maestro dies at 94 The Florida Times Union at Jacksonville com Retrieved 28 May 2013 Who s Who in America 2011 edition Willis Page 1918 2013 Obituary archived by Legacy com and originally published in various newspapers including the Boston Globe The Des Moines Register The Tennessean and The Buffalo News January 20 2013 Retrieved 28 May 2013 a b Bach Cantatas Website Biographies of Performers a b Monica Chamness The Life amp Times of Willis Page Daily Record May 2 2001 Christian Chronicle June 5 1946 New Scientist May 1955 Willis Page Conductor Short Biography Buffalo Evening News August 25 1959 John Dwyer 3300 Pay Tribute To Willis Page Cook Labs catalogue ENJOY March 1972 The Jackson Symphony Death amp Transfiguration New York Post May 20 1971 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Willis Page amp oldid 1083208753, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
