Ron Nelson

Ron Nelson (born December 14, 1929) is a composer of both classical and popular music and a retired music academic.

Biography

A native of Joliet, Illinois, Ron Nelson was born December 14, 1929. He studied composition at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester earning a bachelor's degree in 1952, a master's degree in 1953, and a doctorate in composition in 1957. His teachers at Eastman included Louis Mennini, Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson. In 1954-1955 he studied with Tony Aubin in France at the Ecole Normale de Musique and at the Paris Conservatory under a Fulbright Grant. In 1956, Dr. Nelson joined the faculty of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he served as chairman of the music department from 1963 to 1973, retiring as Professor Emeritus, in 1993.

In 1991, Dr. Nelson was awarded the Acuff Chair of Excellence in the Creative Arts, the first musician to hold the chair. His Passacaglia (Homage on B-A-C-H) was the first piece to win all three major wind band composition prizes during one period — the National Band Association Prize, the American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Award, and the Sudler International Prize. He was awarded the Medal of Honor by the John Philip Sousa Foundation in 1994. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Oklahoma City University.

Nelson has received numerous commissions, including those from the National Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, the USAF Band and Chorus, Musashino Wind Ensemble, Aspen Music Festival and numerous colleges and universities. He has also received grants and awards from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Howard Foundation, ASCAP, and several from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Conductor Leonard Slatkin may have described Ron Nelson best: "Nelson is the quintessential American composer. He has the ability to move between conservative and newer styles with ease. The fact that he's a little hard to categorize is what makes him interesting." (Los Angeles Daily News, February 19, 1996)

As of August 2012, Ron Nelson resided with his wife Michele in Scottsdale, Arizona.[1]

Selected works

Orchestral Works

Works for wind ensemble

Stage works

Chamber music

Choral music

References

  1. ↑ "Ron Nelson .:. composer and conductor of choral, band, and orchestral works". Ronnelson.info. 1929-12-14. Retrieved 2014-08-05.

External links

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Marine Corps document "Hall of Composers: Ron Nelson" (retrieved on 2005-12-01).

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