The American Wind Band: A Cultural History
1952
 International Events:
o Congress passes Immigration Act
o Truman signs “GI Bill of Rights” for Korean War veterans
o General Eisenhower and Senator Richard Nixon are elected president and vice
president
 Music in the United States:
o First American tape-music concert is presented at the Museum of Modern Art
in New York City by two Columbia University composers, Otto Luening and
Vladimir Ussachevsky
o Gail Kubik receives Pulitzer prize for Symphony Concertante.
o Robert Russell Bennett orchestrates Richard Rogers’ music for the TV
documentary series Victory at Sea
o Elliot Carter’s Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Harpsichord is considered
one of his masterpieces.
o Copland composes Piano Fantasy (1952-1957) with a rigid ten-note row. He
publishes Music and Imagination.
o August 29, pianist David Tudor presents premiere of John Cage’s 4’33”, a
study in silence
o Riegger composes one movement Woodwind Quintet, op. 51, with peppery
energy, idiomatic writing, serial chromaticism and rigorous canons.
o Earle Brown composes Folio, a series of compositions based upon artistic
concepts in the sculptures of Alexander Calder and paintings of Jackson
Pollock
o Peter Mennin composes Concertato: Moby Dickfor orchestra
o “Big Mama” Thornton’s version of “Hound Dog” is Elvis Presley’s model;
later she is model for Janis Joplin
 American Wind Band Music:
o Fennell sends out 400 letters to composers in summer inviting them to
compose for the new ensemble he has in mind
o On Sept 20 Frederick Fennell founds Eastman Wind Ensemble.
o Stravinsky revises his Octet for Winds
o Four symphonies are premiered by Commanding Officer and Conductor
Francis E. Resta for West Point Sesquicentennial Celebration: Darius
Milhaud’s West Point Symphony, Morton Gould’s Symphony no. 4 “West
Point”, Robert Dvorak’s West Point Symphony op. 311, and Roy Harris’ West
Point Symphony.
o Charles Cushing composes Angel Campfor West Point Sesquicentennial
commissioning project
o Vincent Persichetti composes Psalm for band
o Stravinsky composes Concertino and Tango (1953) for miscellaneous bands
of winds and strings.
o National Association of Secondary School Principals makes statement of
support for music ensembles rehearsing and offering private lessons during
the school day.
1953
 International Events:
o President Eisenhower announces U.S. will not interfere in affairs of countries
behind the “Iron Curtain.”
o Federal jury in New York convicts thirteen communists of conspiring to teach
overthrow of U.S. government
 Music in the United States:
o Martinu’s opera The Marriage opens in New York
o Henry Cowell composes what many consider to be his greatest music, Seven
Rituals of Music
o Chou Wen-chung, former pupil of Varese, combines modern American ideas
with ancient Oriental ones in orchestral works All in the Spring Wind and
And the Fallen Petals
o Sessions uses row technique in Sonata for Violin Solo
o Warren Benson organizes first continuous percussion ensemble at Ithaca
College
o William Schuman writes a baseball opera, The Mighty Casey
o Persichetti writes Symphony for Strings (Symphony no. 5)
o Stravinsky composes ballet Agnon
o Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond record witty version of Perdido, quoting
several popular and classical tunes in improvisation at Oberlin College
concert.
o Bill Haley and the Comets top charts with rock and roll for the first time with
“Crazy Man Crazy”
 American Wind Band Music:
o On June 22, a Jubilee Concert commemorating Goldman Band’s 2,000th
performance occurs on the mall in New York’s Central Park. Conducting their
own compositions are Copland, Gould, Persichetti, and Grainger
o Fennell describes historic fist concert of Eastman Wind Ensemble in March
issue of American Music Teacher.
o Percy Grainger composes The Power of Rome and the Christian Heart for
wind ensemble and organ.
o Vincent Persichetti writes Pageant, a sequel to Psalm for Band
o Paul Creston composes Celebration Overture
o American School Band Directors Association is founded. National Catholic
Bandmasters Association is also established.
o Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, national band fraternity and sorority
commission original works.
1954
 International Events:
o In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka U.S. Supreme Court rules
segregation unlawful and orders schools to admit African American children
in “all deliberate speed”
 Music in the United States:
o Menotti composes Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Saint of Bleeker Street
o Toscanini retires as conductor of NBC Orchestra
o Karel Husa arrives in U.S. becoming faculty member at Cornell University
o Quincy Porter wins Pulitzer Prize for Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra.
o Stravinsky composes Septet, Three Songs of Shakespeare, In Memoriam
Dylan Thomas, and Three Russian Peasant Songs
o Haley’s “Shake Rattle and Roll” is smash hit
o Nearly 200 record companies are established in the U.S.
o Elvis Presley’s career erupts with landmark recording session of “That’s
Alright” at Sun Records in Memphis
o Charles Ives dies in New York City
o Leonard Bernstein makes his first appearance on television with Beethoven’s
Fifth Symphony as part of the program Omnibus
 American Wind Band Music:
o LeBlanc Publications issues Fennell’s Time and the Winds
o Bernard Rogers sets Three Japanese Dances written earlier for orchestra
o Hanson composes Chorale and Alleluia based on Swedish hymn by
commission from Goldman Band for ABA convention at West Point
o Warren Benson composes Concertino (for solo alto saxophone) for Sigurd
Rascher
o Edgar Varese creates Deserts for winds, piano and percussion instruments
alternating with “organized sound” on tape in large-arch sound.
o Morton Gould composes Mini-Suite for young band.
o E. F. Goldman visits and works with 103 school and college bands
1955
 International Events:
o Blacks boycott segregated Montgomery bus line after Rosa Parks refuses to
move from her seat for a white man.
o Congress authorizes president to use force if necessary to protect Nationalist
China against Communist China
 Music in the United States:
o Marian Anderson becomes the first black woman to sing with Metropolitan
Opera
o Survey reveals 100 radio stations broadcast a weekly total of 13,795 hours of
“concert music”
o Alan Hovhaness composes Symphony no. 2: Mysterious Mountain
o Bill Haley and the Comets establish rock and roll as hit music with “Rock
Around the Clock,” which becomes theme music for movie Blackboard
Jungle, and connects rock with youthful rebellion
o Lawrence Welk begins first weekly TV show with musical format.
o Menotti’s opera The Saint of Bleeker Street receives the Pulitzer Prize in
Music, his second.
o Schuller writes Tribute to Duke Ellington
 American Wind Band Music
o Battisti commissions more than twenty new works by important composers
for Ithaca High School Band from 1955-1967, including Persichetti, Husa,
Benson, Wilder, Ward, Bassett, Hartley, and Childs
o Frank Erikson composes Toccata for Band, which is accessible for school
bands
o Joseph Willcox Jenkinds composes American Overture for Band
o Clare Grundman sets early American tunes in Kentucky 1800 for school band
1956
 International Events:
o Southern congressmen call on states to resist Supreme Court ruling on
segregation. Virginia challenges ruling by permitting public funds to be used
for private schools.
o Eisenhower and Nixon are reelected.
 Music in the United States
o Bernstein produces musical comedy Candide
o Elvis Presley achieves national stardom with “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound
Doug,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” and “Love Me Tender.”
o Moore’s opera The Ballad of Baby Doe premieres at Central City’s historic
opera house in Colorado.
o Immigrant composer Ernest Toch receives Pulitzer prize for Symphony no. 3.
o William Bolcum sets forty-six poems of Blake in Songs of Innocence and
Experience (1956-1984)
o Henry Brant composes The Grand Universal Circus.
o Lerner and Lowe collaborate on musical My Fair Lady, based on Pygmalion.
o Dizzy Gillespie and band are sent by U.S. State Department on goodwill tour.
o “Hard bop” or “funk” emerges in jazz.
o Schuman completes New England Triptych, based on tunes of William
Billings; it is later recast for concert band (1956-1975)
 American Wind Band Music
o Ostwald Uniform Company establishes contest for best composition submitted
to American Band Association jury.
o Vincent Persichetti completes Symphony no. 6 for Band, op. 69 on
commission from Washington University in St. Louis.
o Aaron Copland sets Variations on a Shaker Melody from Appalachian Spring
for band.
o Clifton Williams writes Fanfare and Allegro, winning first Ostwald award.
o William Latham sets Three Chorale Preludes.
o E. F. Goldman dies February 21. Richard Franko assumes leadership of
Goldman Band and commissions Bergsma, Giannini, and Moore.
o J. J. Richardson dies; he was conductor of Long Beach Muinicipal and
Ringling Brothers Circus Bands, president of ABA, and composer of 120
band works.
o Gould writes Santa Fe Saga for concert band.
1957
 International Events
o U.S. occupation forces leave Japan
o Congress enacts Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination based on race,
color, religion, or national origin. (First Civil Rights legislation since the
Reconstruction of 1866-1877).


o 9 black students enter Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas,
guarded by federal troops.
Music in the United States
o Norman Dello Joio wins Pulitzer Prize for Meditations on Ecclesiastes.
o Gunther Schuller coins term “third stream music” for amalgam of jazz and
classical music.
o Edgar Varese composes Poem electronique working with architect Le
Corbusier for Brussels World’s Fair Pavilion of Philips Corporation
evoking spatial sound as living matter.
o Leonard Bernstein produces musical West Side Story in New York.
o Babbitt composes progressive jazz All Set for Brandeis University Jazz
Festival, scoring it for seven instruments.
o Persichetti writs Symphony no. 7, Liturgic on St. Louis Symphony’s
eightieth anniversary, drawing upon his Hymns and Responses of the
Church Year (1955).
American Wind Band Music
o Robert Boudreau founds American Wind Symphony as professional
ensemble in Pittsburgh. Ned Rorem composes Sinfonia for 15 Wind
Instruments on commission from group.
o William Schuman composes Chester (Overture for Band) from his New
England Trypitich for orchestra.
o Clifton Williams writes Symphonic Suite and receives ABA/Ostwald
Award.
o Howard Hanson transcribes Song of Democracy for band and chorus based
on poetry of Walt Whitman.
o Ford Foundation investigates relationship between arts and society.
o Walter Harley composes Concerto for 23 Winds. William Latham sets
sixteenth-century dances and airs with A Court Festival.
o Vaclav Nelhybel emigrates to U.S. and writes more than sixty works for
band.
1958
 International Events
o Arkansas Governor Faubus defies Supreme Court ruling by closing four
high schools and reopening them as private schools.
o Soviets launch Sputnik 3, gathering much scientific information from the
unmanned satellite.
 Music in the United States
o Barber’s opera Vanessa wins Pulitzer Prize in Music.
o Babbit likens himself to theoretical mathematicians.
o John Cage’s Concert for Piano and Orchestra in New York draws riotous
response.
o Rodgers and Hammerstein produce musical Flower Drum Song.
o Stravinsky writes his first thoroughly serial composition, Threni: id est
Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae, for soloists, chorus, and orchestra.
o Duke Ellington composes Satin Doll.

o Leonard Bernstein succeeds Dmitri Mitropoulos as conductor of New
York Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he holds until 1969. He is the
first American-born comductor to hold this position and introduces
thematic programming, televised Young People’s Concerts, and his survey
of Mahler symphonies.
o Congress approves specific version of “The Star Spangled Banner” as
official national anthem
o Hindemith writes Pittsburgh Symphony.
o Schuller publishes Early Jazz: Its Roots and Development.
American Wind Band Music
o Vittorio Giannini composes Symphony no. 3 on commission from Duke
University.
o Willaim Schuman sets “When Jesus Wept” from New England Tryptich,
and the Goldman Band premieres work.
o Alan Hovhannes composes Symphony no. 4, op. 165 for wind orchestra.
o Robert Russell Bennett composes Symphonic Songs and Concerto Grosso
fro Woodwind Quintet.
o Ron Nelson composes Mayflower Overture for Fennell and Eastman Wind
Ensemble.
o John Barnes Chance serves Eighth U.S. Army Band during Korean War.
1959
 International Events:
o Alaska and Hawaii become 49th and 50th states.
o Desegregation of schools in Norfolk and Arlington, Virginia begins.
o Vice president Nixon engages in famous “kitchen debate” with Soviet
Premier Khrushchev in Moscow.
 Music in the United States
o Alan Berg’s opera Wozzeck is revived in New York; it was originally
premiered in Berlin in 1934.
o Gunther Schuller composes Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee for the
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, one of his best known works.
o Richard Rodgers produces musical Sound of Music based on World War II
in Austria.
o Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue is a landmark recording selling millions worldwide and becoming jazz musicians “bible.”
o John La Montaine’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra wins Pulitzer Prize.
o Musical Fiorello! Receives Pulitzer Prize for musical drama.
 American Wind Band Music
o Vittorio Giannini composes Symphony no. 3.
o Ithaca High School commissions Warren Benson’s first work for winds,
Night Song
o Norman Dello Joio implements Young Composers Project funded by Ford
Foundation administered by National Music Council (1959-1973).
o Charles Carter composes Overture for Winds for school bands.
o Eleven Pulitzer Prize composers have written at least one work for wind
band: Schuman, Hanson, Copland, Sowerby, Ives, Piston, Thomson,
Moore, Porter, Toch, and Barber.
1960
 International Events:
o African Americans stage sit-ins in South to force desegregation in public
places.
o Fidel Castro confiscates U.S. property in Cuba.
o Senators Kennedy and Johnson are elected and vice president repectively.
Kennedy at 43 is youngest in history and first Roman Catholic.
 Music in the United States
o Elliot Carter is awarded Pulitzer Prize for Stringg Quartet no. 2.
o Minimalism movement in American music comes to fore.
o Igor Stravinsky composes The Flood, a musical play broadcast on CBS
television.
o Vittorio Giannini composes The Medead for orchestra and chorus in an
intensely Romantic style.
o Karel Husa experiments with serial technique in Mosaiques for orchestra.
o Most popular musicals include The Fantasticks, Oliver!, Bye Bye Birdie,
and Camelot
o Copland publishes Copland on Music.
 American Wind Band Music:
o National Band Association is founded by Traugott Rohner, publisher of
The Instrumentalist. It becomes the largest band association in U.S.
o By 1960 there is a great increase in original wind band works written, but
they are rarely programmed in performances.
o Roger Nixon composes Fiesta del Pacifico.
o Walter Beeler transcribes Bernstein’s Overture to Candide for band.
1961
 International Events:
o U.S. breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba, calling it “Soviet satellite.”
Cuban exiles trained by U.S. make unsuccessful attempt to overthrow
Castro in “Bay of Pigs.”
o President Kennedy establishes Peace Corps.
o Alan Sheperd is America’s first man in space. Kennedy states U.S. goal to
“land America on the moon in a decade” and proposes $1.8 billion tenyear space program.
 Music in the United States
o Walter Piston is awarded Pulitzer Prize for Symphony no. 7.
o Folk singer Pete Seeger composes “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”
o Film Breakfast at Tiffany’s features song Moon River by Henery Mancini
and Johnny Mercer.
o Benjamin Lees composes Visions of Poets, a large-scale dramatic cantata
for the opening of the Seattle Opera House.
o Vincent Persichetti writes textbook Twentieth Century Harmony.

American Wind Band Music
o R.F. Goldman states, “The wind ensemble is the realization of what a
concert band aims for in its most musically serious moments.”
o Western and Northwestern Divisions of CBDNA commission Ingolf Dahl
to write Singonietta for Band.
o John Barnes Chance composes Incantation and Dance.
o Elizabeth Lutyens composes Symphonies for Solo Piano, Winds, Harp and
Percussion, op. 46
o Dahl’s imaginative Sinfonetta for concert band shows his unabashed
indebtedness to Stravinsky.
1962
 International Events:
o President Kennedy demands Soviet removal of missile installations in
Cuba and orders blockade. Khrushchev agrees to dismantle bases in
intense fourteen day of world drama.
o Supreme Court rules public schools cannot require recitation of prayers.
 Music in the United States
o Robert Ward produces opera The Crucible and is awarded Pulitzer Prize.
o Samuel Barber receives Pulitzer Prize for Piano Concerto.
o Lincoln Center opens with Bernstein conducting New York Philharmonic.
o Lou Harrison composes A Joyous Procession and A Solemn Procession
each based on a hepatonic mode and just intonation.
o Paul Hindemith composes and conducts Organ Concerto with the New
York Philharmonic.
o Bob Dylan achieves recognition with song “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
o Norman Dello Joio produces opera Blood Moon.
o Gunther Shuman stops performing to compose, write, teach, administer,
and broadcast. His book Horn Technique remains a standard reference
(second edition 1992).
 American Wind Band Music
o Norman Dello Joio composes Variants on a Medieval Tune for Duke
University.
o Goldman sets Grainger’s Handel on the Strand (1912).
o Samuel Adler pens Southwestern Sketches.
o Vincent Persichetti continues to write for band with Bagatelles.
o Clifton Williams composes Variation Overture for school bands,
dedicating it to Frederick Fennell.
o Francis McBeth composes Chant and Jubilo for school bands.
o The Twenty-sixth North Carolina and First Wisconsin Brigade Bands are
resurrected for Civil War Centennial.
o Frederick Fennell is awarded Congressional Centennial Committee Medal
of Honor for his contributions to preserving Civil War music in his Project
Union.
o Fennell is invited to guest-conduct Minnesota Orchestra in Civil War
uprising concert.
1963
 International Events
o Dr. King leads massive March on Washington in support of equal rights
for African Americans delivering one of most powerful speeches in
American history, “I Have a Dream”
o President Kennedy assassinated November 22 in Dallas while riding in
motorcade. Vice President Johnson is sworn in as president, as nation
mourns its fallen leader.
o U.S. aid to South Vietnam continues.
 Music in the United States
o Gunther Schuller conducts Twentieth Century Innovations concert series
in New York, programs of new music sponsored by Carnegie Foundation
until 1965.
o Schuller begins distinguished tenure teaching at Tanglewood (1963-1984).
o New Rorem composes symphonic poem Lions in pop-style of Billie
Holliday and swing era.
o Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Pete Seeger lead singing of “We Shall
Overcome” in final concert of Newport Folk Festival.
o Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto no. 1 wins the Pulitzer Prize in Music,
his second.
o Bernstien writes Symphony no. 3, Kaddish.
 American Wind Band Music
o Warren Benson is commissioned by music fraternity Kappa Gamma Psi to
write The Leaves Are Falling based upon chorale Ein Feste Burg inspired
by poem “Herbst” (Autumn) by Rainer Maria Rilke.
o Gunther Schuller conducts premiere on his quiet serial work Mediatation
at American Bandmasters Association convention.
o Benson composes Symphony for Durms and Wind Orchestra
o Norman Dello Joio composes Variations on a Medieval Tune on
commission from Duke University.
o Martin Mailman writes Liturgical Music for Band, op. 33.
1964
 International Events
o Johnson and Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota are elected president
and vice president, respectively.
o New York’s World Fair opens; General Motors’ Futurama is most popular
exhibit.
 Music in the United States
o Beatlemania sweeps U.S. as album Meet the Beatles sells 2 million copies.
o Igor Stravinsky composes Elegy for JFK for baritone voice and three
clarinets. Robert Craft conducts premiere.
o William Kraft composes Concerto for Four Solo Percussion and
Orchestra, dedicating it to memory of Varese.
o Coltrane improvises on reiteration of Martin Luther King speech in
“Psalm” from A Love Supreme.
o Lou Harrison composes At the Tomb of Charles Ives for orchestra.

o Terry Riley composes minimalistic In C for any number of musicians.
Composers Riley, Reich, Oliveros, and Subotnick are performers in
premiere.
o Musicals on Broadway include Hello Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof, and
Funny Girl
o Dello Joio composes Scenes from the Louvre for special NBC broadcast
(1964), winning an Emmy award in 1965.
American Wind Band Music
o Benson’s Leaves Are Falling is premiered by Eastman Wind Ensemble.
Later many associate it as a memorial to John F. Kennedy.
o Copland composes Emblems on commission from CBDNA on request by
Keith Wilson of Yale. Emblems is first CBDNA commission.
o Ronald Lo Presti composes Elegy on a Young American in memory of
JFK.
o Donald Hunsberger transcribes Festive Overture by Shostakovich.
o Schuller composes Diptych for Brass Quintet and Concert Band.
o Czech immigrant Vaclav Nelhybel writes Trittico.
o Leslie Bassett composes Designs, Images and Textures for Ithaca High
School.
o Schuman transcribes Band Song from original 1939 voice and piano
version.
o ABA publishes Journal of Band Research.
1965
 International Events
o Viet Cong attack U.S. military compound in South Vietnam. President
Johnson orders raids on Vietnam and sends more troops to fight.
o Large anti-war demonstrations break out in U.S.
o Dr. King leads march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to protest
discrimination against African Americans in voting registration.
o Civil rights riot in Watts section of Los Angeles last for 6 days.
o Edward White is first American to walk in space.
 Music in the United States
o Bob Dylan’s rock song “Like a Rolling Stone” provokes audiences.
o Schuller intersects jazz and classical music with First Symphony.
o Philip Glass works with Ravi Shankar, Indian sitarist, and Alla Rakha,
revolutionizing his musical thinking.
o Charles Ives’ Symphony no. 4, composed in 1910-1925, is premiered.
o Musical Man of La Mancha is composed by Mitch Leigh.
o Steve Reich composes music concrete works: It’s Gonna Rain and Come
Out, each based on a short spoken phrase.
o Dahl writes Aria Sinfonia.
o Bernstein completes Chichester Psalms.
 American Wind Band Music
o Persichetti composes masterwork, Masquerade, op.102.
o John Barnes Chance writes Variations on a Korean Folk Song.
o Warren Benson composes Remembrance.
o Walter Hartley composes Sinfonia no.4.
o Barney Childs writes aleatoric Six Events for Fifty-Eight Players for Ithaca
High School Band.
o Jan Meyerowitz composes Three Comments on War.
o Donald Hunsberger is appointed conductor of Eastman Wind Ensemble.
1966
 International Events
o US begins bombing North Vietnam
o KKK attacks blacks and Civil Rights workers in the South
o Edward Brooke from Massachusetts is elected first black US Senator since
Reconstruction of 1866
o New York and Pennsylvania railroads combine, creating biggest merger in
US history
 Music in the United States
o Leslie Basset’s Variations for Orchestra wins Pulitzer Prize
o Michael Colgrass breaks from serialism with As Quiet As for orchestra
o Gunther Schuller’s opera The Visitation plays in Hamburg State Opera
House
o Duke Ellington composes religious jazz In the Beginning God, playing in
churches throughout US and Europe
o New Metropolitan Opera House in New York’s Lincoln Center opens
o Samuel Barber premieres opera Anthony and Cleopatra in New York
o Rock concerts become commonplace in outdoor arenas after The Beatles
fill giant Shea Stadium
 American Wind Band Music
o Warren Benson composes The Solitary Dancer for Clarence High School
Band. It becomes his most performed work.
o Norman Dello Joio sets Scenes from the Louvre for band, originally for
orchestra, for NBC TV special broadcast. Original score wins Emmy.
o John Barnes Chance receives ABA/Ostwald Award for Variations on a
Korean Folk Song
o Vincent Persichetti composes cantata Celebrations for wind ensemble and
chorus based on Walt Whitman poetry
o David Amram composes King Lear Variations
o Vaclav Nelhybel writes Symphonic Movement.
1967
 International Events
o US forces attack Viet Cong in Mekong River Delta. US suffers heavy
losses near Con Thien just south of the DMZ. US peace talks with Hanoi
begin in Paris. US troops capture hill near Dak To after 19-day battle.
o Anti-war protesters march in DC.
o Riots continue in slum areas of cities.
o Thurgood Marshall becomes first African American to sit on Supreme
Court
o US population reaches 200 million


o Astronauts Grisson, White, and Chaffee are killed inside Saturn 1B rocket
during a pre-flight test.
o Soviet cosmonaut Komarov dies in Soyuz I rocket during reentry.
Music in the United States
o Hanz Werner Henze’s Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra
premieres.
o Rolling Stone celebrates counter-cultural movement and work of rock
musicians
o Steve Reich composes Piano Phase for two keyboards in phase shifts.
o Hair, first rock-styled Broadway musical, opens.
o Leon Kirchner wins Pulitzer Prize with String Quartet no. 3.
o Hello Dolly! Is revived with all-black cast including Pearl Bailey and Cab
Calloway
o Morton Subtonick organizes and composes eclectic evening of multimedia music, An Electric Christmas.
American Wind Band Music
o Krzystof Penderecki composes Pittsburgh Overture for American Wind
Symphony, allowing the players and the conductor to determine the actual
shape of a composition.
o John Krance arranges epic Carmina Burana for concert band in
collaboration with Orff.
o Donald Erb writes Stargazing with electronic tape.
o There are more than 67,000 instrumental organizations in the US and more
than 50,000 wind bands.
o William Rhoads transcribes Ives’ Variations on America, originally for
organ, from Schuman’s transcription for orchestra.
o Henry Brant composes Verticals Ascending after Rodia Watts Towers,
music of spatial separation and disposition for double wind ensemble.
o Hunsberger initiates MCA contemporary music project.
o Schuller writes Study in Textures for band.
1968
 International Events
o Viet Cong and North Vietnamese attack more than 100 cities and military
bases. President Johnson ends bombing in North Vietnam.
o Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis.
o Robert Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles.
o Richard Nixon is elected president.
 Music in the United States
o George Crumb wins Pulitzer Prize for orchestral work Echoes of Time and
River.
o Italian immigrant Luciano Berio composes Sinfonia defining neoRomantic movement or “new accessibility.”
o National Association of Jazz Educators is formed.
o Jerome Rosen premieres Concerto for Synket (electronic instrument) and
Orchestra in Seattle.

o Eric Salzmann composes The Nude Paper Sermon tropes for actor,
Renaissance consort, chorus, electronic music.
o Aretha Franklin and Jimi Hendrix are equally popular.
o Hendrix improvises “The Star-Spangled Banner” on guitar in massive
rock concerts.
American Wind Band Music
o Ithaca College gives first Walter Beeler Memorial Commission to Karel
Husa. Husa responds to Soviet invasion of his native Prague with Music
for Prague, 1968. He transcribes it for orchestra and the work is
performed 8,000 times world-wide by bands and major city orchestras.
o Karel Husa writes Concerto for Saxophone and Band for Sigurd Rascher.
o Robert Jager’s Diamond Variations is awarded ABA/Ostwald Award.
o Dello Joio composes Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn on commission by
Michigan Band and Orchestra Association.
1969
 International events
o Federal Grand Jury indicts eight anti-war protesters for inciting riot at
National Democratic Convention in Chicago. Trial of “Chicago 8” begins.
o President Nixon withdraws troops from Vietnam, but intensifies bombing
in Cambodia.
o House of Representatives and US Army investigate 1968 massacre of
South Vietnamese civilians.
o Large anti-war demonstrations take place and include Vietnam
Moratorium Days in DC.
o US and USSR begin preliminary SALT in Helsinki.
o Several traditionally all-male colleges and universities including Yale,
Bowdoin, and Colgate admit women.
 Music in the US
o Woodstock Music and Art Fair attracts nearly 400,000 near Bethel, NY.
o Vincent Persichetti composes his most important major work, the oratorio
The Creation.
o Karel Husa wins Pulitzer Prize for String Quartet no. 3.
o Gian Carlo Menotti produces Help! Help! The Globolinks! For Santa Fe
Opera about an alien invasion.
o Schoenberg’s Pelleas and Melisande is choreographed by Roland Pettit
for Fonteyn and Nureyev in New York.
o Robert Hall Lewis writes General Speech, a savage parody of General
Macarthur’s “Duty! Honor! Country!” speech for unaccompanied double
bass. It is one of many virtuosic pieces American composers write during
this period.
o William Bolcom and William Albright write rag Brass Knuckles.
o John Cages composes HPSCHD, a spectacular five-hour work for seven
harpsichordists and multimedia; it is premiered at the Unviersity of
Illinois.
o Philip Glass composes Music in Fifths in repeated five-note patterns.

o Historical musical 1776 is based on signing of Declaration of
Independence
o President Nixon presents Duke Ellington with Medal of Freedom.
American Wind Band Music
o University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble, Frank Bencriscutto conductor,
takes historic ambassador concert tour to Soviet Union, returning to offer
command performance for President Nixon on White House Lawn.
o Warren Benson composes Shadow Wood for voice and wind ensemble.
o Ron Nelson writes Rocky Point Holiday on a commission from University
of Minnesota Wind Ensemble.
o Richard Willis’ Air and Toccata receives ABA/Ostwald Award.
o Earl Slocum transcribes Bedrich Smetana’s The High Castle for band, one
of several artistic works he makes available to band.
o Hugh Stuart sets Three Ayres from Gloucester for young band.
1970
 International Events
o Public pressure to end Vietnam War increases. Paris Peace talks continue.
o National Guard fires on 1,000 antiwar protesters at Kent State University
in Ohio. Four students are killed.
o 448 colleges and universities are either closed or on strike in protest of
Kent State killings and U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
o U.S. withdraws more troops from Vietnam.
o Former Governor Wallace encourages Southern governors to defy federal
integration order.
o President Nixon names first two women generals in U.S. history
o Congress creates National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), a
federal corporation authorized to operate trains between U.S. cities.
o Congress establishes EPA, Environmental Protection Agency
o Report shows Sesame Street, a nationwide TV program, improves
educational skills of children
 Music in the US
o George Crumb composes Ancient Voices for Children and Black Angels
“in time of war.”
o Wuorinen’s Time Econium is first electronic work to be awarded Pulitzer
Prize.
o Smithsonian hires critic Martin Williams to direct jazz program, resulting
in important recording reissues, including Smithsonian Collection of
Classic Jazz.
o Klemperer conducts Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde at his eighty-fifth
birthday concert in Los Angeles.
o Duke Ellington gives sacred music concert in Harlem, New York City
o Eugene Ormandy conducts first U.S. performance of Shostakovich’s
Symphony no. 13 in Philadelphia.
o John Corigliano composes electric rock opera, Naked Carmen.
o Pauline Oliveros and several other women composers create performance
art, using bodies and materials for making music (ca. 1970).

American Wind Band Music
o Karel Husa composes his most serious work for band and chorus,
Apotheosis of This Earth.
o Fischer Tull’s Tocatta receieves ABA/Ostwald Award.
o H.Owen Reed composes Touch of the Earth, including Heart of the Morn.
o Dan Welcher composes first work for winds, Walls and Fences.
o Barbara Buhleman arranges Brahms Blessed Are They from A German
Requiem for school band.
o First Regional/Metro Youth Wind Ensemble, the Massachusetts Youth
Wind Ensemble, is established by Frank Battisti and sponsored by the
New England Conservatory of Music.
o First National Wind Ensemble Conference takes place at New England
Conservatory
1971
 International Events
o U.S. Supreme Court rules hiring policies must be same for women as men.
o New York Times publishes classified Pentagon papers about U.S.
involvement in Vietnam. Supreme Court uphold rights of Times and
Washington Post to publish papers.
o Twenty-sixth Amendment is ratified, lowering minimum voting age in
elections from twenty-one to eighteen
o U.S. Supreme Court rules federal and state aid to parochial schools is
unconstitutional.
o Supreme Court upholds busing of children to integrate schools where state
laws have allowed segregation.
o President Nixon imposes ninety-day freeze on wages, prices, and rents to
curb inflation.
o Supreme Court rules that conscientious objectors seeking draft exemption
must show they oppose all wars, not just Vietnam War.
 Music in the US
o Elliot Carter wins his second Pulitzer Prize with String Quartet no. 3
commissioned by Julliard School of Music.
o Mario Davidovsky receives Pulitzer Prize for electronic music piece
Synchonism no. 6.
o Fiddler on the Roof becomes longest running musical in Broadway
history, surpassing Hello Dolly’s 2,844 performances.
o Stockhausen’s “Hymen” Symphony is performed in New York.
o Two religiously inspired Broadway shows, Godspell and Jesus Christ
Superstar, are hits.
o Igor Stravinsky dies in New York City (April 6).
o Milhaud writes Music for San Francisco for orchestra and Homage a Igor
Stravinsky for string quartet
 American Wind Band Music
o Fischer Tull composes his masterpiece for winds and percussion, Sketches
on a Tudor Psalm.
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Karel Husa composes Concerto for Percussion and Wind Ensemble.
Ross Lee Finney writes Summer in Valley City.
Verne Reynolds composes innovative work Scenes.
Karl Kroeger receives ABA/Ostwald Award for Divertimento.
John Barnes Chance pens Blue Lake Overture.
Francis McBeth composes The Seventh Seal.
Perschetti writes O Cool is the Valley (Poem for Band).
1972
 International Events
o U.S. B-52s bomb Haiphong and Hanoi. Henry Kissinger, president’s
Assistant for National Security, states “peace is at hand.” U.S. continues to
pull troops out of Vietnam.
o Military draft ends. Armed forces become all volunteer.
o Police arrest five men for breaking into Democratic Party National
Headquarters in Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C.
Republicans deny charges of “Watergate burglaries” being sanctioned by
President Nixon’s campaign officials.
o Nixon visits Communist China and U.S.S.R.
o Amendment prohibiting sex discrimination against women is sent to states
for ratification.
o Nixon and Agnew are reelected president and vice president respectively.
o U.S. and ninety other nations agree to stop dumping pollutants into
oceans.
 Music in the US
o Jacob Druckman is awarded Pulitzer Prize for Windows, a mosaic of
fragments of old music for orchestra.
o Leonard Bernstein premiers his Mass in Washington, D.C., an example of
third-stream Theatre.
o Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention are described as an amalgam
of Varèsese-, Stravinsky-, and Cage-influenced rock music.
o Stephen Sonheim composes musical of innovative artistic ideas, A Little
Night Music.
o Engineer Robert Moog patents Moog synthesizer, an electronic musical
instrument which duplicates sounds of instruments with remarkable
accuracy.
o Popular Broadway musicals are Pippin and Grease
 American Wind Band Music
o More than 200 wind band works have been commissioned from 1942 to
1972. Robert Bourdeau, conductor of American Wind Symphony
Orchestra states, “American wind bands have largest commissioning
program in history of music.”
o Howard Hanson composes Dies Natalis based on Christmas hymn and
Young Person’s Guide to the Six-Tone Scale for piano, winds, and
percussion.
o John Barnes Chance composes Elegy.
o Vincent Persichetti writes series of Parables including, Parable IX, op. 12
for band.
o Robert Jager’s Sinfonietta receives ABA/Ostwald Award.
o John Zdechik sets “Simple Gifts” in Chorale and Shaker Dance on
commission by Jefferson High School Band of Bloomington, Minnesota.
1973
 International Events
o Senate committee headed by Samuel Ervin holds televised hearings on
Watergate affair.
o U.S. ends military draft.
o Vice President Agnew resigns, pleading no contest to charges of income
tax evasion. Gerald Ford becomes vice president.
o U.S. and South Vietnam sign cease-fire with North Vietnam and Viet
Cong, ending Vietnam War.
o Population is 201.1 million, an increase of 1.6 million from 1972.
o Kissinger becomes Secretary of State.
o Members of American Indian Movement make Native American
grievances known during seventy-day seizure of trading post and church at
Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
 Music in the US
o Jacob Druckman composes Delzia contente che l’alme beate based on an
aria by Francesco Cavalli.
o Lou Harrison composes Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra.
o Steve Reich composes Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ.
o St. George Tucker composes number of works in quarter-tones, including
Little Pieces for Quarter Tone Piano and Quartertone Recorder Duets.
o Libby Larsen and Stephen Paulus co-found Minnesota Composers Forum,
later named American Composers Forum (1996).
o Bernstein gives famous Norton Professor of Poetry lectures at Harvard in
which he uses a controversial interpretation of Chomsky’s theory of
linguistics to argue the universal nature of tonality in music.
 American Wind Band Music
o Timothy Broege composes Sinfonia V and The Headless Horseman based
on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
o Alfred Reed writes Alleluia! Laudamus Te.
o Roger Nixon’s Elegy and March receives ABA/Oswald Award.
o Symphonic bands and wind ensembles flourish in schools, colleges, and
universities. There are 50,000 secondary school bands and 2,000
college/university bands in U.S.
o Donald Hunsberger establishes National Wind Ensemble Center at
Eastman.
1974
 International Events
o House Judiciary Committee holds televised impeachment hearings against
President Nixon. He is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice in
Watergate cover-up, failure to fulfill his oath through abuses of power,


and unconstitutional defiance of Committee subpoenas. House
recommends three articles of impeachment.
o President Nixon resigns and is succeeded by Gerald Ford. Rockefeller
becomes vice president.
o President Ford issues unconditional pardon to Nixon for all federal crimes
he may have committed as president.
o U.S. ends wage and price controls.
o Federal judge dismisses charges against Indian leaders who participated in
takeover at Wounded Knee.
o Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is charged with foreign and domestic
abuse of power.
o President Ford proposes conditional amnesty to draft evaders and deserters
of Vietnam.
o Gasoline shortage places hardships on Americans through winter months.
Year-round Daylight Savings Time is adopted into law to save fuel.
o U.S. is hit by a recession.
Music in the U.S.
o Centennial of Charles Ives is celebrated throughout U.S. in performances
of and lectures about his music.
o Ned Rorem composes The Final Diary, establishing himself as a major
conservative voice.
o Donald Martino’s septet Notturno for two woodwinds, two strings, piano,
and percussion receives Pulitzer Prize.
o John Harbison composes opera Winter’s Tales after Shakespeare play.
o Duke Ellington dies.
o French-American composer Darius Milhaud dies.
American Wind Band Music
o Warren Benson composes The Passing Bell in memory of Luther College
Band student
o Eric Stokes writes The Continental Harp and Band Report as part of
Minnesota Orchestra’s Bicentennial commissioning program.
o Frank Zappa composes Dog Breath Variations.
o Jonathan Elkus transcribes Ives’ Old Home Days suits=e for band.
o Adolphus Hailstork composes Out of Depths.
o James Sclater’s Visions receives ABA/Ostwald Award.
o First National High School Wind Ensemble Conference takes place in
Long Island, New York.
o Brion programs all-Grainger, all-Ives, and all-Holst band concerts at Yale
University, following “al’-single composer” models set by Thomas.
o Schuman writes Prelude for a Great Occasion for brass and percussion.
1975
 International Events
o Mitchell, Erlichman, and Hadleman are found guilty of perjury,
conspiracy, and obstruction of justice in Watergate cover-up. They are
given prison terms


o U.S. evacuates troops, civilians, and refugees from South Vietnam.
Congress appropriates $405 million to aid Vietnamese refugees
o US cuts off economic and military aid to Turkey because of their
occupation of Cyprus.
o Cambodian Communist forces fire on and seize US merchant ship
Mayagueze in Gulf of Siam
o IRS and SEC investigate US corporations for illegal political
contributions, foreign and domestic
o Two assassination attempts are made against President Ford in California
o FBI agents capture Patty Hearst, daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst,
who was kidnapped in 1974 by SLA terrorist group
o Union leader Jimmy Hoffa mysteriously disappears. FBI begins search
o Viking 1 and Viking 2 are launched and on schedule to arrive on Mars in
one year.
Music in the United States
o Dominick Argento’s opera from the Diary of Virginia Woolf wins the
Pulitzer Prize in Music
o Crumb composes Makrokosmos II
o American premiere of Berlioz’s opera Benvenuto Cellini in Boston
o Country music legend Willie Nelson achieves crossover success with
rock-like festivals and album Red Headed Stranger
o New Music Consort of New York is Organized
o Schuman writes The Young Dead Soldiers for soprano, horn, woodwinds,
and strings
American Wind Band Music
o William Schuman sets final movement of New England Trypitch, Be Glad
Then America, for band
o John Paulson composes aleatoric work, based on Ancient Greek war chant
Epinicion.
o Monte Tubb writes colorful Intermezzo
o Howard Hanson composes Laude: Chorale, Variations, and
Metamorphosis
o Clifton Williams composes final work for band, Caccia and Chorale
commissioned by University of Wisconsin Stevens Point.
o Norman Dello Joio writes Satiric Dances (for a comedy of Aristophanes)
on commission for Concord, Massachusetts’ Bicentennial celebration
o Robert Paniero’s Jubiloso receives ABA/Ostwald Award
o Harvard University commissions Peter Schickele’s Grand Serenade for an
Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion
1976
 International Events
o US celebrates bicentennial of its independence
o US intelligence agencies are charged with unlawful investigation, and
surveillance of citizens
o US vetoes admission of Vietnam to UN saying Hanoi government failed
to account for 800 US servicemen missing in action


o Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale are elected president and VP,
respectively
o US and USSR sign treaty limiting size of underground nuclear explosions
o Viking 1 and Viking 2 land on Mars and send information about planet’s
surface
o American life expectancy for white women is 79.2 years, non-white
women is 72; white men is 67.4; non-white men is 62
o Women win thirteen of 32 Rhodes Scholarships awarded to Americans,
the first time the scholarship is open to them
Music in the US
o Ned Rorem receives Pulitzer Prize for orchestral suite Air Music
o David Del Tredici wins Pulizter Prize for Final Alice based on Alice in
Wonderland tale for amplified soprano and “folk or rock group” and very
large orchestra
o Philip Glass’ minimalistic opera Einstein on the Beach sells out NY’s Met
o Fats Waller’s music appears on Broadway musical Ain’t Misbehavin
o Gian Carlo Menotti produces the opera The Hero in Philadelphia
o Robert Ashley documents musical personalities of composers in set of
video portraits, Music with Roots in the Aether. Composers include:
Ashely, Glass, Riley, Behrman, and Oliveros
o Gould completes Symphony of Spirituals and American Ballads
American Wind Band Music
o Karel Husa composes An American Te Deum for band and chorus
o Yale University Band under Keith Brion presents all-Ives concert at
Concertgebow in Amsterdam
o Third and fourth Continental Artillery Army band is resurrected for
bicentennial
o JC Penny gives collection of American music to school ensembles
throughout the US as part of American Bicentennial celebration. Band
works include Nixon’s Music for a Civic Celebration, Hewitt’s The Battle
of Trenton, Herbert’s The Gold Bug, and Gilmore’s Norwich Cadets
o Clifton Williams dies; composed 30 works for band
o Netherlands Wind Ensemble conducted by Edo de Waart tours US
o Hanson writes Laude, Chorale, Variations, and Metamorphoses for band
1977
 International Events
o Pres. Carter makes human rights part of US foreign policy
o US imports exceed exports by $26.72 billion, largest in history
o High oil consumption makes energy conservation necessary during
nationwide energy crisis
o Congress creates new Cabinet-level Department of Energy. James
Schlesinger is first secretary
o Travel bans on US citizens to Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, and North Korea
are lifted
o African American Thomas Bradley, mayor of LA since 1973, is reelected


o Nearly 20 million Americans are involved in some sort of spiritualism:
transcendental meditation, yoga, charismatic movements, mysticism, or
Eastern Religions
Music in the US
o Michael Colgrass receives Pulitzer prize for his collage work for
percussion quartet and orchestra, Déjà Vu.
o John Williams composes Star Wars music
o Elvis dies
o Robert Wernick receives Pulitzer Prize for orchestral work Visions of
Wonder and Terror
o Annie, based on comic strip Little Orphan Annie, opens on Broadway
o Robert Ashley composes unconventional video Perfect Lives (Private
Parts), 1977-1983
o Morton Subotnick, one of first to work with analog synthesizers,
composes Two Life Histories with real-time electronics
American Wind Band Music
o 1979 Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Schwantner writes … and the
mountains rising nowhere
o Verne Reynolds composes Scenes Revisited
o 1966 Pulitzer Prize winning composer Leslie Bassett composes Sounds,
Shapes, and Symbols
o William Hill’s Dances Sacred and Profane wins ABA/Ostwald Award
o Howard Hanson composes Symphony no 7, Sea Symphony, transcribing it
for band and chorus for 50th anniversary of Inerlochen in memory of
founder Joseph Maddy.
o Henry Brand writes An American Debate for two vying wind ensembles
o Cindy McTee composes her first work for wind ensemble, Sonic Shades
1978
 International Events
o FCC urges TV industry to provide a reasonable number of children’s
shows, including educational programs. US and Communist China
establish full diplomatic relations
o Carter calls for voluntary anti-inflation program
o CA voters approve Proposition 13, cutting property taxes and reducing
state revenues from $12 billion to $5 billion. Education programs are
severely cut
o Carter signs law making 70 the mandatory retirement age for most
Americans
 Music in the US
o Eubie Blake’s music is featured in Broadway musical Eubie
o Krzystof Penderecki produces opera Paradise Lost in Chicago
o John Adams composes Shaker Loops for string septet
o Michael Colgrass premieres Something’s Gonna Happen, a fanciful
children’s opera based on Jack and the Beanstalk
o Seiji Ozawa becomes first non-Chinese conductor of China’s Central
Philharmonic Orchestra

o Recording of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians sells more than
20,000 copies within a year
American Wind Band Music
o Zdenek Lukas composes Musica Boema for Mich. State University Wind
Ensemble. Political intrigue and Communist wire-tapping delay
performances of this landmark work in US and Czech Republic
o Ross Lee Finney writes Skating on the Sheyenne, sequel to Summer in
Valley City
o Warren Benson composes Ginger Marmalade, double canon for young
band with contemporary compositional techniques.
o James Barnes wins ABA/Ostwald Award for Symphony, op. 35
o Robert Garafalo recreates Civil War Brass Band, Heritage Americana,
1978-1988
o Yale University Band, Keith Brion conductor, presents Sousa re-creation
concert
1979
 International Events
o US annual rate of inflation is 13.3 percent, highest in 33 yrs.
o Supreme Court upholds voluntary Affirmative Action programs
o Large anti-nuclear rallies are held in DC and NYC
o Dept of Energy sues nine US oil companies for allegedly over-charging
customers nearly $1 billion since 1973
o New Cabinet-level Dept of Education is established with Shirley Hufstdler
as its first secretary
o Castro visits US for first time in 19 yrs, addressing UN general assembly
o Jane Byrne becomes first woman to be elected mayor of Chicago
o Viking 1 discovers Jupiter has a ring and 14th moon. Pioneer 11 discovers
2 new moons and 2 new rings around Saturn
o Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong publish The Brethren, an inside look
at the Supreme Court
 Music in the US
o Joseph Schwantner receives Pulitzer Prize for symphonic poem Aftertones
of Infinity.
o Stephen Sondheim produces operatic musical Theater work Sweeny Todd,
the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
o John Harbison’s opera Full Moon in March is premiered
o Jacob Druckman completes orchestral work Aureole
o Gunther Schuller challenges music profession in Tanglewood speech. He
criticizes absentee music directors, the workman-like mentality of players,
and the meddling of boards and administration in artistic matters. This
speech makes him many enemies and costs him numerous commissions
and engagements
o Album sales drop in US for first time in 25 yrs
o Morton Feldman composes Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
o Revival of Okalahoma! is a smash hit on Broadway.
o Fad for disco fades away, replaced by grittier aspects of funk

American Wind Band Music
o Frederick Fennell completes landmark “first digital recording by large
ensemble” with members of the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland
Winds, and Telarc Recordings (1978-79)
o Alec Wilder composes Serenade for Winds
o John Harbison composes Wind Quintet
o No ABA/Ostwald Award given
1980
 International Events
o US negotiates for release of Americans held hostage by Iranians in
Tehran. US rescue mission fails with plane helicopter collision in Iranian
desert
o US population is 226.5 million
o Carter signs Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax, largest tax ever imposed on
an industry
o Chrysler corporation receives govt guaranteed $400 million loan.
o Congress overrides Carter’s veto and rejects proposal for $4.62 levy on
each barrel of imported oil. This is first overriding veto by Congress
controlled by president’s party since 1952.
o Regan and Bush elected president and VP, respectively
o World’s largest oil rig, Shell’s “Cognac” off-shore drilling platform,
begins operations off coast of Louisiana
o House of Representatives expels Congressman Michael J Myers, first such
expulsion from the House since the Civil War
 Music in the US
o David Del Tredici earns the Pulitzer Prize in Music with In Memory of a
Summer Day for soprano and orchestra
o Jacob Druckman composes Prism, including operatic music of
Charpentier, Cavalli, and Cherubini, expressing a “new Romantacism”
o Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis of New Orleans bursts onto national
scene with musical family
o Steve Riley’s CBS recording Shri Camel reasserts his presence in
American music
o Philip Glass completes Part II of his operatic trilogy Satyagraha: Gandhi
in South Africa, 1893-1914
o Peter Garland composes Amerindian – and Mexican influenced works
o John Corigliano composes film score Altered State, winning an Academy
award nomination
o John Adams composes Harmonium (1980-81)
o Robert Washburn is commissioned to compose music for Lake Placid
Winter Olympic Games
o Eugene Ormandy ends 44 year tenure as musical director of Philadelphia
Orchestra
o Academy Award-winning composer and conductor John Williams is
appointed musical director of Boston Pops, succeeding lat Arthur Fiedler
 American Wind Band Music
o William Kraft composes Dialogues and Entertainments
o Pulitzer Prize winning composer Mario Davidovksy is commissioned by
CBDNA to write Consorts, premiered at 1981 National Conference in Ann
Arbor
o Gunther Schuller composes trombone concerto, Eine Kleine
Posaunemusik
o Joseph Schwantner writes From a Dark Millennium, companion music to
… and the mountains rising nowhere
o James Curnow receives ABA/Ostwald Award for Mutanza
o Timothy Broege pens Streets and Inroads
1981
 International Events
o 52 US Hostages freed by Iran. In return, US Agrees to relase $8 billion in
frozen Iranian assets
o President Reagan is shot and wounded by John Hinckley in Washington.
o Sandra Day O’Connor is first woman justice on U.S. Supreme Court
o 9,700 immigrants are sworn in as US citizens in LA in largest
naturalization ceremony ever held.
o IBM introduces the personal computer (PC)
 Music in the United States
o John Tower composes landmark orchestral work Sequoia.
o John Adams sets poetry of John Donne and Emily Dickinson in Harmonium
for chorus and orchestra.
o Karel Husa completes ballet The Trojan Women
o Champion of American music Howard Hanson dies in Rochester.
o Steve Riley sets music to words for first time with Tebillum.
o Diamanda Galas composes experimental theatrical works, including Wild
Women With Steak Knives.
o Laurie Anderson’s recording O Superman is epitome of performance art.
o Music of Duke Ellington is featured in Broadway musical Sophisticated
Ladies.
o The Rolling Stones play for 2 million fans in smash U.S. tour.
o Schuller writes In Praise of Winds for woodwinds.
 American Wind Band Music
o National Public Radio broadcasts series of thirteen one hour wind band/wind
ensemble concert programs entitled Windworks hosted by Fred Calland with
commentary by Frderick Fennell. Windworks is chosen US entry for Prix
Italia.
o University of Michigan commissions Gunther Schuller’s Symphony no. 3, In
Praise of Winds.
o David Maslanka writes his first work for wind ensemble, A Child’s Garden of
Dreams.
o Anthony Iannaccone composes After a Gentle Rain.
o Ernest Krenek composes Dream Sequence, op. 224.
o James Barnes’ Visions Macabre wins ABA/oStwald Award.
o World Association of Symphonic Band Ensembles (WASBE) is established in
Manchester, England.
1982
 International Events
o President Reagne orders embargo on Libyan oil in move to check
international terrorism.
o Reagan proposes US and Soviet Union reduce nuclear arsenals by one-third.
o Federal judge in Arkansas rules it unconstitutional to require schools to teach
creationism if theory of education is taught.
o Reagan orders reinstatement of US military draft registrations for eighteen
year olds.
o Medical history is made at University of Utah Medical Center when an
artifical heart designed by Robert Jarvik is successfully implanted.
 Music in the US
o John Adam initiates historic opera, Nixon in China, director Peter Sellars,
which runs from 1982-1987, is based on Nixon’s 1972 visit.
o British musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Weber, based on Old Possum’s Book
of Practical Cats, opens on Broadway.
o Roger Sessions is awarded Pulitzer Prize for Concerto for Orchestra.
o Stephen Paulus completes lyric opera The Postman Always Rings Twice.
o “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the furious Five is hip-hop rap
evoking pos-industrial oppression.
 American Wind Band Music
o Kasrel Husa composes Concerto for Wind Ensemble.
o Adolphus Hailstork composes American Guernica, graphically depiciting
Mississippi church burning and deaths of four black girls.
o David Holsinger receives ABA/OStwald Award for Armies of the
Omnipresent Otserf.
o John Adams writes Grand Pianola Music for two pianos, two singers, and
chamber winds.
1983
 International Events
o President Reagan describes Soviet Union as “Evil Empire” in speech in which
he also opposes nuclear arms freeze. Reagan proposes anti-ballistic missle
system, dubbed “Star Wards”, costing billions of dollars.
o Expert panel finds nation’s educational standards “are eroded by rising tide of
mediocrity”, threatening the nation’s future.
o Martin Luther King’s birthday is declared national holiday.
o Health officials assure the public there is little risk of catching AIDS via blood
transfusions.
 Music in the US
o Ellen Zwilich is first woman to win Pulitzer Prize with Symphony 1.
o Phillip Glass composes twelve-hour, five-act opera CIVIL wars; a tree is
measured best when its down. Work is popular, but critics are befuddled.
o Ned Rorem composes Whitman Cantata.
o Daren Eric Hagen composes song cycle, Echo’s Song influenced by lyrical
style of his mentor Ned Rorem.
o Jacob Druckman writes of neo-Romantic movement in Horizons ’83.
o David Hykes uses Tibetan-like multi-phonic vocal techniques in Current
Circulation.
o New York Metropolitain Opera celebrates 100th anniversary with eight-hour
TV broadcast.
o British rock stars Sing and Boy George tour US in what is known as second
British invasion.
 American Wind Band Music
o First WASBE Conference is held in Skien, Norway.
o Wareen Benson composes Symphony II-Lost Songs.
o Ron Nelson composes Medieval Suite in Homage to Leonin, Perotin, and
Machaut.
o Martin Mailman’s Exaltations receives ABA/Ostwald Award.
o Pierre LaPlante sets early American seaman’s hymn Prospect from Southern
Harmony for school bands.
o North American Brass Band Association is established to promote Britishstyled brass bands in US and Canada.
o Gould writes Centennial Symphony, Gala for Band.
1984
 International Events
o President Reagan and Vice President Bush are reelected.
o Civil Rights commission ends use of quotas in employment promotions for
African Americans.
o Nearly eighty banks fail, higher number since 1938.
o Seven chemical firms agree to pay $180 million to Vietnam veterans if they
drop claims related to Agent Orange.
o Standard Oil of California buys Gulf Oil for $13 billion in biggest corporate
merger to date.
 Music in the US
o Bernard Rand wins Pulitzer Prize for Canti del Sole for tenor and chamber
ensemble.
o The LA Summer Olympics open in Hollywood style with an enormous
orchestra playing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with eighty four pianists, a
massed marching band, gospel singers and break dancers.
o Stephen Albert wins Pulitzer Prize for symphony River Run.
o Philip Glass completes part III or his operatic trilogy Akhahten named for
Egyptian pharaoh.
o Pop star Michael Jackson wins eighth Grammy Awards. Thriller breaks all
sales records, topping 37 million copies.
o Frank Zappa responds to Pierre Boulez commission with The Perfect
Stranger.
 American Wind Band Music
o Warren Benson composes Wings.
o Karel Husa composes Concerto for Piano and Wind Ensemble.
o Leslie Bassett writes Colors and Contours.
o Robert Rodriguez composes first multi-media theatrical work for wind
ensemble, The Seven Deadly Sins, premeiered at CBDNA-University of
Colorado by East Texas State, Garryl Hill, conductor.
o David Liptak composes Soundings.
o James Curnow receives ABA/OStwald Award with Symphonic Variants for
Euphonium and Band.
o Frederick Fennell becomes conductor o Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra.
o Persichetti finished O God Unseen, Chorale Prelude for Band.
1985
 International Events
o In his State of the Union Address, “The Second American Revolution,”
Reagan calls for reform in federal income tax policies.
o US becomes world’s leading debtor nation.
o Obesity is called a major killer with 34 million Americans considered
overweight.
o Teenage hackers break into confidential files at AT&T and the Pentagon.
o US Supreme Court bars moment of silence in public schools, declaring that it
fosters religious activity.
o Three member of a Navy family are convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.
 Music in the US
o Stephen Sondheim receives Pulitzer Prize for drama with operatic musical
Sunday in the Park with George.
o Joan Tower composes Piano Concerto: Homage to Beethoven.
o Libby Larsen composes Symphony no. 1 “Water Music” for Minnesota
Orchestra.
o Tipper Gore tries to clean up rock lyrics by using warning labels on
“offensive” albums. Rock musicial Frank Zappa argues ardently, calling it
censorship.
o Daniel Lentz composes Wild Turkeys, Time’s Trick, and Crack in the Bell
with computer/synthesizer technology.
o John Adams completes Harmonielbre (1984-1985), fusing repetitive motifs
with lush, Romantic symphonic language.
o William Schuman receives Pulitzer Prize Special Citation “for more than a
half century of contribution to American Music as a composer and educational
leader.”
 American Wind Band Music
o Putlizer Prize-winning composer Michael Colgrass composes his first work
for wind ensemble Winds of Nagual, For New England Conservatory.
o Vincent Perischetti composes his final work for band, Chorale Prelude: O God
Unseen.
o David Maslanka composes Symphony no. 2, for Big Ten Band Directors
Commissioning Consortium.
o Joseph Downing’s Symphony for Winds and Percussion is awarded
ABA/Ostwald Award.
o CBDNA Journal is founded.
1986
 International Events
o President Reagan orders an air strike on Libya for its terrorism.
o National debt passes $2 trillino mark.
o Space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing alls even astronauts aboard in one
of the worst catastrophes in US space history.
 Music in the US
o Karel Husa is commissioned by New York Philharmonic to write Concerto for
Orchestra.
o Joan Tower composes SIlverLadders for orchestra.
o Alan Hovhaness composes Symphony no. 61 “Mount St. Helen’s.”
o Phillip Glass commissions rock star David Byrne for lyrics of Songs from
Liquid Days.
o Laurie Anderson composes concert film Home of the Brave.
o Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio inducts first ten members,
including Elvis Prsesley, jerry Leee lewis, Buddy Holly, ray Charles, James
Brown, and Chuck Berry.
o Noah Creshevsky writes music concrete work Strategic Defense Intiative
based on Reagan’s “Star Wars” speech.
 American Wind Band
o John Harbison writes Music for 18 Winds.
o George Perle is awarded Pulitzer Prize for Woodwind Quiontent no. 4.
o Jacob Druckman composes first work for wind ensemble, Paen.
o Larry Odom transcribes John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine.
o Ron Nelson writes Aspen Jubilee for wind ensemble and vocalize or
harmonica.
o David Holsinger’s In the Spring at the Time When Kings Go Off to Wars
receives the ABA/Ostwald Award.
o James Barnes sets Yorkshire Ballad for school bands.
1987
 International Events
o DJIA average plunges 508 points of 22.6% on Black Monday, by far the
largest one-day loss in history.
o Iraqi warplane fires on US Navy frigate Stark, killing thirty-seven American
soldiers.
 Music in the US
o John Adams premieres opera Nixon in China with Houston Grand Opera.
CBS broadcast establishes Adams’ international reputation.
o John Harbison’s cantata Flight into Egypt receives Pulitzer Prize
o Steve Reich completes Electronic Counter-point.
o Teneth anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death casues V specials, books, and new
releases of his music.
o Fiftieth anniversary of George Gershwin’s death is honored with month of
concerts at Brooklyn Academy of Muisc.
o British musical Les Miserables wins Tony Award on Broadway.
o John Coriglian completes opera, Ghosts of Versailles (1980-1987)

American Wind Band Music
o Vincent Persichetti dies in Philadelphia after having composed more than 100
works, 15 for band, over 40 years.
o Jacob Druckman composes IN Memoriam Vincent Persichetti in honor of his
good friend and mentor’s lifetime contributions to wind band music.
o Micahel Colgrass transcribes his 1978 Pultizer Prize-winning composition
Déjà vu for wind ensemble and percussion soloists.
o Warren Benson composes Dawn’s Early Light
o Dana Wilson composes jazz-influenced Piece of Mind, winner of the
ABA/Ostwald Award.
o Libby Larsen composes The Settling years for chamber winds and voice for
US Air Force Band
1988
 International Events
o George H. W. Bush is elected president in landslide.
o Terrorists suspected in midair explosion of Pan Am 747 bound from Frankfurt
via London to New York. 270 people are killed.
 Music in the US
o Attendance climbs at Broadway theaters because of the success of Phantom of
the Opera and Tony Award winning M. Butterfly.
o Virgil Thomson is awarded National Medal of Arts by US congress
o John Williams writes music for Summer Olympics.
o Micahel Duagherty composes Metropolis Symphony on Superman myth for
London Symphony Orchestra.
o Philip Glass produces opera The Making of the Representative for the Planet 8
for Houston Opera.
o Libby Larsen composes Collage: boogie for American Youth Orchestra
o William Bolcom receives Pulitzer Prize for Twelve New Etudes for Piano
 America Wind Band Music
o Martin mailman receives 1989 ABA/Ostwald Award For Precious Friends
Hid in Death’s Dateless Night.
o Alfred Reed composes Symphony no.3.
o Jsoeph Kreines sets Two Grainger Melodies
o Frank Ticheli composes Portrait of a Clown on commission from Cheryl
Floyd and Murchison (Texas) Middle School Band.
o Merlin Patterson transcribes Aaron Copland’s Down a Country Lane;
published in 1962 in Life magazine as piano solo written for young pianists.
o James Curnow sets “Ahrirand” in Korean folk Rhapsody for young band.
1989
 International Events
o George H. W. Bush is inaugurated
o U.S. Supreme Court declares Constitution protects rights of protesters to burn
U.S. flag
o President Bush announces new program to curb illegal drug trafficking and
use

Music in the United States
o The Beatles’ Complete Scores, a 1.136 page volume with full transcriptions of
213 songs, appears in print.
o Michael Daugherty receives Kennedy Center Award for Snap!-Blue Like an
Orange.
o Libby Larsen composes Songs from Letters of Calamity Jane to Daughter
Janey.
o Bernard Rand becomes composer-in-residence with Philadelphia Orchestra.
o Roger Reynolds receives Pulitzer Prize for Whispers Out of Time for string
orchestra
o Michael Colgrass composes The Schubert Birds.
o Schuller publishes book The Swing Era, a sequel to his jazz study published
twenty years earlier.
 American Wind Band Music
o Gunther Schuller composes On Winged Flight: A Divertimento for Band on
commission from U.S. Air Force Band
o 1983 Pulitzer Prize recipient Ellen Taage Zwilich is commissioned by FSU
for Ceremonies, which is premiered at the 1989 ABA Convention
o Libby Larsen writes her first work for and, Grand Rondo, on commission
from St. Cloud State University Wind Ensemble.
o David Gillingham composes Heroes Lost and Fallen, commemorating those
who lost their lives in Vietnam War
o David Holsinger sets On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss based on the 1876 hymn,
“It Is Well With My Soul.”
1990
 International Events:
o Iraq invades Kuwait proclaiming it part of Iraq. After diplomatic resolution
fails, President Bush sends 400,000
o Germany, divided since end of World War II, is reunited. Berlin Wall comes
down; barriers between East and West Germany disappear. Helmut Kohl
becomes Chancellor or reunited Germany.
 Music in the United States
o Kyle Gann writes, “Composers of 1990s are again creating music in which
intellectual, physical and emotional appeal are no longer separated, pointing
toward rebirth in American society. [The] GAP between artist and audience is
diminishing.”
o John Adams premieres opera The Death of Klinghoffer about the hijacking of
the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985.
o Mel Powell receives Pulitzer Prize for Duplicates: Concerto for Two Pianos
and Orchestra.
o John Tower receives Grawemeyer Award for Silver Ladders.
o Libby Larsen produces opera Frankenstein.
o Dan Welcher composes Haleakala: How Maui Snared the Sun for Honolulu
Symphony.
o A Chorus Line closes after fifteen years, the longest run in Broadway history.
o Leonard Bernstein dies in New York City.
o Aaron Copland dies in Tarrytown, New York.
 American Wind Band Music
o Warren Benson writes Meditation on “I Am for Peace.”
o Gunther Schuller composes Song and Dance for violin-wind ensemble on
commission, premiered by University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble at
CBDNA – Minneapolis.
o Schuller transcribes Nikos Skalkottas’ Greek Dances for American concert
band.
o Libby Larsen composes Sun Song inspired by poetry of Langston Hughes for
Illinois consortium of colleges/universities.
o Cindy McTee writes Circuits
o Norman Dello Joio composes Let Us Sing a New Song for band and chorus.
o Frank Ticheli sets Cajun Folk Songs for Cheryl Floyd and Murchison Middle
School Band in Austin, Texas.
o Gregory Youtz’s Fireworks receives ABA/Ostwald Award.
o Andrew Boysen composes I Am, commemorating the death of a Prairie High
School student (Cedar Rapids, Iowa).
1991
 International Events
o U.S. troops and forces from thirty-four other nations join in a campaign codenamed Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf. War lasts six weeks with large
numbers of Iraqi troops killed or captured, but Allied losses are light. Kuwait
is freed from Iraq.
o Four white policemen are indicted by Los Angeles grand jury in beating of
black motorist Rodney King. Brutal beating captured on videotape is widely
seen on television.
 Music in the United States
o John Corigliano premieres opera The Ghosts of Versailles in New York.
o Shulamit Ran receives Pulitzer prize for Symphony for Orchestra.
o Daren Hagen sets Civil War texts in song cycle Dear Youth.
o New York’s Lincoln Center for Performing Arts creates permanent jazz
department.
o 200th anniversary of Mozart’s death spurs tributes worldwide.
o Broadway’s big musical hit is again a British import, Miss Saigon.
 American Wind Band Music
o Michael Colgrass composes Arctic Dreams premiered by University of
Illinois Band at CBDNA in Kansas City.
o Frank Ticheli composes Postcard on commission by H. Robert Reynolds in
memory of the conductor’s mother.
o Timothy Mahr composes Soaring Hawk for University of Iowa Band, with
Myron Welch, conductor, and receives ABA/Ostwald Award.
o Michael Daugherty composes Desi in tribute to Desi Arnez, premiered by
Stephen F. Austin University at Kansas City CBDNA.
o David Holsinger sets A Childhood Hymn based on “Jesus Loves Me” for
young band.
1992
 International Events
o Arkansas governor Bill Clinton defeats George H. W. Bush in presidential
race. Third party candidate Ross Perot receives nineteen percent of popular
vote.
o Leaders of Canada, Mexico, and U.S. sign North American Free Trade
Agreement.
 Music in the United States
o Ellen Taafe Zwillich writes Symphony no. 3 for New York Philharmonic for
its 150th Anniversary.
o Wayne Peterson earns Pulitzer Prize for The Fall of the Night, the Heart of the
Dark for San Francisco Symphony.
o John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer based on 1985 hijacking of Italian
cruiseliner, is picketed in San Francisco; work is never again staged in U.S.
o Hailstork commissioned for opera Paul Laurence Dunbar, becoming Cultural
Laureate of Virginia.
o Leon Kirchner’s Music for Cello and Orchestra written for celebrated cellist
Yo-Yo Ma receives critical acclaim.
o Robert X. Rodriguez composes Tequilla Sunrise for full orchestra.
o William Schuman dies in New York City.
 American Wind Band Music
o John Harbison writes Three City Blocks for U.S. Air Force Band premiere.
o Ron Nelson composes Passacaglia (Homage on B-A-C-H), receiving more
awards than any composition in wind band history: ABA, Barlow, and NBA
awards.
o Adam Gorb writes Metropolis.
o Donal Grantham composes Bum’s Rush.
o Timothy Mahr composes Endurances on commission from ABA/Ostwald
Award.
o Anne McGinty composes work for young band, The Red Balloon.
o Warren Benson writes Adagietto for Ithaca College’s 100th anniversary.
o Gunther Schuller composes Festive March for band for 125th anniversary of
New England Conservatory.
1993
 International Events
o The Clintons’ push for national health care reform fails.
o Computer users in record numbers join the Internet, accessing information
superhighway, linking people and computers worldwide.
o Janet Reno becomes first female U.S. Attorney General
 Music in the United States
o Joan Tower composes fifth Fanfare for an Uncommon Woman, no. 1-5 (18861993).
o Michael Dauherty composes Dead Elvis for chamber ensemble and Harley
Davidson cycle.
o Elliott Carter composes orchestral work, Partita.
o Frank Ticheli’s Radiant Voices is premiered by Pacific Symphony.
o Philip Glass completes String Quartet no. 5.
o Tony Award is given for best musical to Kiss of the Spider Woman.
o John Williams retires as conductor of Boston Pops Orchestra. Williams’
music to Schindler’s List (1993), Born on the 4th of July and JFK (1991) and
Saving Private Ryan (1998) display acute response to tragedy and sense for
epic.
o Morton Gould’s final orchestral work, Stringmusic, written for Rostropovich’s
farewell from the National Symphony Orchestra, wins the Pulitzer Prize.
 American Wind Band Music
o Film composer Ira Hearshen artistically sets major work, Symphony on
Themes by John Philip Sousa.
o Bernard Rand composes Ceremonial for University of Michigan Symphony
Band, H. Robert Reynolds, conductor; it is premiered at CBDNA – Ohio State
University.
o Michael Daugherty composes Bizarro, inspired by Superman comic strip.
o Bruce Yurko composes colorful Night Dances for Dover Middle School
Concert Band.
1994
 International Events:
o Republicans gain control of House and Senate for first time in forty years.
o President Clinton ends a nineteen-year-old embargo against Vietnam.
o Major league baseball players go on strike, canceling the World Series.
 Music in the United States
o Gunther Schuller wins Pulitzer Prize for Of Reminiscences and Reflections.
This angry and elegiac work, which broke a year of compositional silence
following his wife’s death, conceals within its textures references to music he
and his wife experienced together.
o Libby Larsen wins Grammy Award for production of recording The Art of
Arlene Auger.
o Pavarotti, Domingo, and Carreras win raves for Encore! The Three Tenors in
LA concert.
o Twenty-fifth anniversary of Woodstock gathering draws more than 300,000 in
three-day rock festival.
o Veteran rock groups the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd undertake concert
tours grossing more than $100 million each.
o Jacob Druckman composes fanfare With Bells On.
o Barbara Streisand’s first live concerts in thirty years sell out in NYC, Los
Angeles, and London.
 American Wind Band Music
o Fennell is first wind band conductor to receive prestigious Theodore Thomas
Conducting Award. Georg Solti and Pierre Boulez precede and succeed him.
o Dan Welcher compose Zion as last movement to trilogy of works inspired by
U.S. national parks.
o Ron Nelson composes Epiphanies for University of Illinois Symphonic Band
and Chaconne for ABA/Ostwald Award.
o Frank Ticheli sets Amazing Grace on commission from John Whitwell,
conductor at Michigan State University, in memory of Whitwell’s father.
o Michael Sweeney composes exploratory sonic piece for young band Ancient
Voices.
1995
 International Events:
o Bombing of Murrah Building in Oklahoma City kills 168 people. It is worst
terrorist attack on American soil in history until 2001.
o Following collapse of peso, U.S. gives aid in excess of $20 billion to Mexico.
 Music in the United States
o Morton Gould receives Pulitzer Prize for Stringmusic.
o John Adams’ opera I Was Looking at the Ceiling When I Saw the Sky about
the on Northridge earthquake is told in twenty-five pop songs accompanied
by rock band.
o Adams, Grawemeyer Award for Violin Concerto.
o Metropolitan Opera of New York commissions John Harbison to compose
jazz-inflected The Great Gatsby.
o Ian Krouse’s Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra premiered by Chicago
Symphony.
o Karel Husa is awarded Gold Medal of Honor from native Czech Republic.
o Stephen Paulus completes concerto for orchestra Three Places of
Enlightenment.
 American Wind Band Music
o Karel Husa composes Les couleurs fauves as a tribute to retiring conductor
John P. Paynter.
o Norman Dello Joio composes his final work for band, Fantasies on an
Original Theme. Morton Gould writes Soliloquy for a Passing Century.
o William Kraft composes Concerto for Four Percussion Soloists and Wind
Ensemble.
o Anthony Iannaccone receives ABA/Ostwald Award for Sea Drift
o Larry Daehn composes As Summer Was Beginning in memory of actor James
Dean for school bands.
o Eric Strokes and Craig Kirchhoff conceive BandQuest project addressing
repertoire crisis in elementary and junior high school bands.
1996
 International Events:
o William Jefferson Clinton is reelected president. Republican retain control of
Congress.
o During 100th anniversary of Olympic ceremony bomb explodes in Atlanta’s
Centennial Park.
 Music in the United States:
o George Walker becomes first black musician to be awarded Pulitzer Prize in
Music for Lilacs.
o John Adams premieres Century Rolls with the Cleveland Symphony
Orchestra.
o Libby Larsen composes cantata Eleanor Roosevelt.
o Tod Machover premieres audience interactive opera Brain Opera at inaugural
Lincoln Center International Music Festival.
o John Williams writes music for Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
o Italian-born composer Robert Miles releases single dance instrumental,
Children, which becomes most frequendly broadcast track on the U.S. radio
and television.
o Robert X. Rodriguez completes most popular symphonic music, Sinfonia de la
Mariachi, a concerto gross bridging vernacular traditions with the artistic.
o Eric Ewazen composes Shadowcatchers for American Brass Quintet and
orchestra.
o Jazz great Ella Fitzgerald dies.
o Morton Gould dies in Orlando, Florida.
 American Wind Band Music
o John Harbison is commissioned by College Band Directors National
Association to compose medium’s first full-scale ballet, Olympic Dances.
o Schuller composes Blue Dawn into White Heat on commission from
University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble, Craig Kirchhoff, conductor.
o University of Minnesota commissions Michael Colgrass’ Urban Requiem for
saxophone quartet and wind ensemble.
o Adam Gorb premieres Away Day.
o Walter Mays captures Native American spirit and sounds in Dreamcatcher.
o Carolyn Bremer sets her orchestral work Early Light for wind ensemble,
inspired by American national anthem and baseball.
o Cindy McTee composes Soundings.
o Libby Larson premieres Concert Dances and A Short Symphony.
o Joseph Schwantner completes trilogy with In Evenings’ Stillness.
o John Adams composes Scratchband.
o Anthony Iannaccone composes Psalms for a Great Country for
ABA/Ostwarld Award.
o Eight Pulitzer Prize of Grawemeyer Award composers write ten compositions
for wind ensemble/band from 1990-1996.
1997
 International Events:
o Timothy McVeigh is found guilty of 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and
sentenced to death.
o Despite his acquittal in the criminal case, O.J. Simpson loses civil case to
families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
o Hong Kong is returned to China after years of British sovereignty but
maintains its status as free-market port.
o Princess Diana is killed in automobile accident with Dodi Fayed.
 Music in the United States
o Pulitzer Prize is awarded for first time to jazz work Blood on the Fields,
an oratorio set in slavery times by Wynton Marsalis, director of Lincoln
Center’s jazz program.
o Composer-critic Kyle Gann identifies American music of 1990s as
movement in “totalism.”

o Joshua Bell introduces John Corigliano’s The Red Violin: Chaconne for
Violin and Orchestra.
o Ellen Taafe Zwillich composes Piano Concerto: “Peanuts Gallery.”
o Michael Daugherty composes chamber opera, Jackie O, exploring
interplay of “high” and “popular” culture.
o Gunther Schuller writes The Compleat Conductor; a landmark text on the
history, philosophy and art of conducting.
o Chen Yi premieres Fiddle Suite for Huqin and String Ensemble for
Harvard University.
o Trouble Girls: The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock is written
completely by women about women.
o “My Heart Will Go On,” from the film Titanic and recorded by Celine
Dion, wins Oscar for Best Song.
American Wind Band Music
o Daugherty composes Niagara Falls for University of Michigan
Symphonic Band, H. Robert Reynolds, conductor.
o Frank Ticheli composes Blue Shades.
o Warren Benson composes The Drums of Summer.
o Daren Hagen transcribes his Night Again for chamber orchestra for wind
ensemble.
o Donald Grantham writes Fantasy Variations on Gershwin’s Prelude no. 2
for Piano.
o Dan Welcher composes Symphony no. 3. Shaker Life. And his Zion is
awarded ABA/Ostwald Award.
o Michigan State composer Jere Hutcheson pens Caricatures.
o Gillingham writes Waking Angels and Concertino for Four Percussion.
o Henry Brant composes On the Nature of Things.
o Richard Miles compiles important band pedagogy series Teaching Music
Through Performance in Band.
1998
 International Events
o 258 people are killed when 2 American embassies are destroyed by
terrorist bombings.
o Northern Ireland achieves a fragile peace with the Good Friday Accord,
ending 30 years of violence.
o U.S. census reports 26 million Americans are immigrants.
o Bill Clinton’s sex scandal explodes when the president denies having sex
with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton becomes second
American president to undergo impeachment proceedings.
 Music in the United States
o Aaron Jay Kernis receives Pultizer Prize for String Quartet no.2, Musica
Instrumentalis.
o Pulitzer Special Award goes posthumously to George Gershwin for
lifetime contributions to American music.

o Libby Larsen composes opera Eric Hermannson’s Soul, characterizing
struggles between love for music and religious zealotry amongst
Norwegian settlers in Nebraska. Hardanger fiddle is featured.
o Ellen Taafe Zwillich composes String Quartet no.2 for Emerson String
Quartet.
o Bob Dylan’s album Time Out of Mind earns Grammy Award.
o Critic and composer Kyle Gann completes electronic opera, Custer and
Sitting Bull, employing Amerindian music, polytempos, and scales of up
to thirty-seven pitches.
o John Williams premieres Seven for Lunch for soprano and orchestra with
Cynthia Haymon and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
American Wind Band Music
o Composer Libby Larsen receives prestigious Sonneck Society Lifetime
Achievement in Music Award at first joint Sonneck Society-College Band
Directors Convention in Kansas City.
o Warren Benson writes Daughter of Stars (A Reminiscence of
Shenandoah).
o Donald Grantham composes Southern Harmony.
o Dan Welcher composes Circular Marches on commission from
ABA/Ostwald Award.
o Adam Gorb composes Yiddish Dances.
o Daniel Pinkham composes Music for an Indian Summer.
1999
 International Events
o The Colombine High School massacre occurs in Littleton, Colorado.
o World prepares for the year 2000.
o Panama gains control of Panama Canal from U.S.
o Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigns, naming Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin his successor.
o John F. Kennedy, Jr., wife Carolyn Bessette, and her sister die in plane
crash off the coast of Massachusetts.
 Music in the United States
o John Adams tours Europe conducting his Naïve and Sentimental Music
(1997-1998) and Charles’ Ives Fourth Symphony.
o Michael Daugherty composes Hell’s Angels for bassoon quartet and
orchestra; UFO, a percussion solo with orchestra for Evelyn Glenny; and
Sunset Strip for chamber orchestra.
o John Harbison premieres opera The Great Gatsby with Metropolitan
Opera based on novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
o Duke Ellington receives special Pulitzer Prize for lifetime contributions in
jazz.
o Melinda Wagner receives Pulitzer Prize for Concerto for Flute, Strings
and Percussion.
o Chen Yi premieres Percussion Concerto for Evelynn Glennie and
Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

o Lydia Mendoza, singer and champion of Mexican-American music,
receives National Medal of Arts from President Clinton.
o Seiji Ozawa, conductor of Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1973,
announces acceptance of Vienna State Opera music director position for
2002.
American Wind Band Music
o Daren Eric Hagen completes historic first full-scale opera with wind
ensemble with Bandanna, based on Shakespeare’s Othello tragedy and
applied to the life of Mexican-American immigrants. This is a 3-year
$300,000 consortium commission project sponsored by CBDNA.
o Donald Grantham premieres Southern Harmony and Jai ete au bal at
CBDNA-University of Texas, Austin convention.
o Grantham receives the ABA/Ostwald for Fantasy Variations.
o Frank Ticheli composes Vesuvius.
o David Gillingham composes When Speaks the Signal-Trumpet Tone on
World War II U.S. Army signals.
o The premiere of wind ensemble transcription from Michael Daugherty’s
Red Cape Tango from Superman is performed at CBDNA-University of
Texas.
o Eric Stokes composes Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking.
o Frederick Fennell receives Lifetime Honorary Award from American
Bandmasters Association. He is only third conductor to be so honored;
Sousa and Goldman precede him.
o Arizona State University Wind Ensemble, Gary Hill, conductor, produces
historic Web casts (1999, 2001).
o Alan Flecher composes An American Song based on “America, the
Beautiful” for Frank Battisti’s final New England Conservatory concert.
2000
 International Events
o Palestinian-Israeli conflicts continue.
o Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic steps down from office.
o Human Genome Project completely maps the genetic code of human
chromosome, raising medical, legal and ethical questions of cloning.
o Hillary Rodham Clinton wins bid to become U.S. Senator from New York.
o President Clinton becomes first American president to visit Vietnam since
Nixon in 1969.
o Republican George W. Bush is declared president-elect more than one
month after Election Day. Gore wins popular vote, but Bush gains
required electoral votes.
 Music in the United States
o Lewis Spratlan receives Pulitzer Prize for Life is a Dream, Opera in Three
Acts: Act II, Concert Version.
o Film score composer John Williams has received 5 Academy Awards, 36
nominations and more than 30 Grammy Awards and nominations.
o Jazz musician Quincy Jones receives National Humanities Medal from
President Clinton.
o The Beatles album 1 is best-selling album of 2000; Backstreet Boys’
Black and Blue is second.
o Robert X. Rodriguez composes dramatic works after Shakespeare, The
Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2000-2001).
o John Harbison composes Four Psalms commissioned by Israeli Consulate
to celebrate 50th anniversary of founding of Israel state. Chicago
Symphony Orchestra premieres work.
o Chen Yi composes Chinese Folk Dance Suite on commission from
Koussevitzky Foundation.
 American Wind Band Music
o Ian Krouse premieres An American Interlude with Michigan State
University Wind Symphony, John Whitwell, conductor, at CBDNACentral Michigan University.
o Don Freund premieres Beyond the Brass Gates with Indiana University
Wind Ensemble, Ray Cramer, conductor, and Julian Ross, violinist at
CBDNA-Central Michigan University.
o Dana Wilson premieres Vortex for piano, winds, and percussion on
commission from Southeast consortium of CBDNA premiered by
University of Tennessee, Gary Sousa, conductor.
o Ticheli composes American Elegy as a commemorative gift to students of
Columbine.
o Eric Ewazen from Julliard writes solo concertos for bassoon, trumpet and
trombone and wind ensemble (2000-2003).
2001-2003
 International Events
o Both towers of World Trade Center in New York City and Pentagon in
Washington, D.C., are struck by American commercial planes flown by
terrorist hijackers, killing thousands (September 11, 2001). Osama bin
Laden, leader of Afghanistan-based international terrorist network AlQaeda, is believed to be responsible.
o President Bush declares war on terrorism.
o U.S. invades Iraq to overturn Saddam Hussein regime (2001-2002).
 Music in the United States
o John Corigliano wins Pulitzer Prize for Symphony no.2 for String
Orchestra. Conductor Ozawa records work paired with Mannheim Rocket
(2001, recording released 2004).
o Wynton Marsalis, trumpeter and Artistic Director of Jazz at the Lincoln
Center, receives United Nations’ “Messenger of Peace” Award, (2001).
o John Adams premieres The Transmigration of Souls, a musical memorial
to 9/11; with the New York Philharmonic (2001-2002); it is awarded the
Pulitzer Prize (2003).
o Joan Tower composes Strike Zones for percussionist Evelyn Glenny and
National Symphony (2001). Tower premieres In Memory for Tokyo String
Quartet (2002).

o John Harbison premieres Requiem in Boston and New York (2002-2003).
Harbison composes chorus We Do Not Live to Ourselves, and premieres
opera Full Moon in March (2003).
o Ian Krouse composes Eternal Lullaby in memory of 9/11 victims for
clarinet, violin and piano (2002).
o Popular composer/conductor Henry Mancini dies (2003).
o Corigliano scheduled to premiere Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. He is
invited to host Children’s Concert with New York Philharmonic;
Promenade Overture and Pied Piper Fantasy, featuring James Galway will
be performed (2003-2004).
o Eric Ewazen’s Visions of Light is premiered at Midwest Band and
Orchestra Clinic by New York Philharmonic principal trombone player
and Indiana University Wind Ensemble (2003).
American Wind Band Music
o Joan Tower composes wind ensemble work Fascinating Ribbons on
commission from CBDNA (2001).
o Dan Welcher writes Songs Without Words for CBDNA consortium
organized by Gary Hill.
o George Walker’s work Canvas is premiered by University of North Texas,
with 5 narrators and SATB chorus at CBDNA Conference.
o Since 1943, 33 or 48 Pulitzer Prize winning composers have written at
least one work for wind band/ensemble.
o Ian Krouse premieres Cronica del utima ano en la vida de un Mexicano
inspired by Ancient Aztec rituals on commission for St. Cloud State
University Wind Ensemble.
o Fennell and Hill replicate historic concert of February 5, 1951, which led
to formation of Eastman Wind Ensemble on first live Web cast from
Arizona State University (2001).
o William Bolcum composes Song; Daugherty composes Rosa Parks
Boulevard for Reynolds’ final concert of University of Michigan.
o Windependence music series is adopted by Boosey and Hawkes (2001).
o Grantham composes “Come Memory…” as memorial to 9/11 attack, also
composes J.S. Dances.
o Lt. Col. David Dietrick installs 2002 West Point commissions.
o Judith Zaimont composes Symphony for Wind Orchestra for 100th
Anniversary of University of Minnesota School of Music (2003).
o John Corigliano composes Symphony for Winds on commission from
University of Texas and Jerry Junkin (2003).