 Frederick Harris, Jr. will speak about his new book, Seeking the Infinite: The Musical Life of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski at 7:30 PM on
Thursday, February 2nd in the Assembly Room of the
Belmont Public Library.
In this book, Harris vividly details Skrowaczewski's incredible life: his struggle for survival in Poland during World War II, his tenures as music director of the Minnesota Orchestra and Halle Orchestra and his complex career as an internationally renowned conductor-composer. Skrowaczewski's career has intersected with music's most illustrious figures: Boulanger, Shostakovich, Stavinsky and Rubinstein, among others.
Dr. Harris was an instrumental music director in the Belmont (MA) Public Schools for eight years (1989-1997). His wind ensembles in Belmont performed at the 1995 MENC All-Eastern Conference, Carnegie Hall, and at Symphony Hall in Boston. His jazz ensembles performed with artists such as James Williams, Alan Dawson, Howard Levy, Mike Monaghan, Rick Stepton, and Ingrid Jensen. He initiated the Belmont High School Commissioned Works Project in 1992, which produced 15 compositions by many prominent composers including Dana Wilson and Gunther Schuller.
Frederick Harris, Jr. is Director of Wind and Jazz Ensembles at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he serves as music director of the MIT Wind Ensemble and MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble. He also is president and artistic director of Symbiosis New England, a professional Boston-based wind ensemble dedicated to new music and education.
Dr. Harris earned a bachelor of music education degree from the Boston Conservatory, master of music degree from New England Conservatory, and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. His conducting teachers include Frank Battisti, Gunther Schuller, Craig Kirchhoff, and Stanisław Skrowaczewski. He studied percussion with Arthur Press, former principal percussionist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and jazz drums with Alan Dawson. His first book, Conducting with Feeling, was published by Meredith Music in 2001.
For more information use the links below:
Fred Harris interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio:
Radio Interview
MinnPost.com, Book Review
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