Event Type : Birthday

Clark Terry, Jr. was born on December 14th, 1920.

A 1968 initiate of the Beta Zeta Chapter at the College of Emporia, Brother Terry was a brilliant jazz musician, composer, and educator. He played with such names as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, and was a regular performer with the Tonight Show Band from 1962 to 1972. Clark is also credited with being one of the most recorded jazz artists in history.

Named the 14th Charles Lutton Man of Music in 1985 at the 45th National Convention, Clark graced us with a special version of his signature piece, “Mumbles,” that ended with “Hail Sinfonia.” He played with an all-star jazz band made up of collegiate and alumni Sinfonians, including Brother John Whitney on piano. It was the first Jazz concert noted at a National Convention, and the original precursor to the 1898 Jazz Orchestra, that is now a regular convention fixture.

 

Pablo Casals was born on December 29th, 1876.

Casals was initiated into the Epsilon Iota Chapter at Florida State University in 1963.

A world-renowned cellist, composer, and conductor, Casals was named Phi Mu Alpha’s Man of Music in 1973. He founded the Prades Festival and served as its first music director. Casals wrote many oratorios, symphonies, masses, choral works and string quartets but is perhaps most well known for his recordings of the Bach Cello Suites.

Also an internationally renowned political figure, Casals was a voice for human rights. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by John F. Kennedy and was quoted as saying,

“This is the greatest honor I have ever received in my life. Peace has always been my greatest concern.”

In 2000, the Pablo  Casals International Cello Competition was created in his name to help discover and further the careers of future elite cellists. His legacy still lives on today through competitions and venues in his namesake, and his passion to sew harmony amongst all through his music.

Sherrill Milnes was born January 10th, 1935.

Brother Milnes was initiated at the Alpha Beta Chapter at Drake University in 1954. He went on to become an internationally acclaimed operatic baritone and was bestowed the title of Man of Music at our 1982 National Convention.

Milnes is renowned for his performances in every major opera house with virtually every leading orchestra in every music capital of the world. He was a leading baritone of the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Chicago Lyric Opera as well as opera companies located in Paris, San Francisco, Berlin, Hamburg, Salzburg, London, Milan, and Buenos Aires.

In 2000, Milnes helped found VOICExperience, a non-profit foundation designed to help young operatic singers train themselves and experience the real world obstacles in the opera world.

William C. Warfield was born January 22nd,  1920.

Brother Warfield was an honorary initiate of the Delta Lambda Chapter at Ball State University in 1961.

A celebrated concert artist and actor, Warfield was named the Fraternity’s 11th “Man of Music” in 1976. He was considered to be one of the world’s experts on Negro spirituals and German Lieder, and held the title of “America’s Musical Ambassador.”

Long recognized as a master performer, most people remember him for his roles as Joe in the 1951 film Showboat. Warfield also appeared as Porgy in the 1952 productions of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, as well as De Lawd in the TV show Green Pastures.

William Revelli was born on February 12th, 1902.

William D. Revelli, an alumnus of the Alpha Lambda Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha at Illinois Wesleyan University, was awarded the Charles E. Lutton “Man of Music” Award in 1994.

Brother Revelli served as the director of the University of Michigan Marching Band from 1935 to 1971. During his term he reinvented the way the university band played and performed, elevating the standard for collegiate marching bands. He was a dedicated, albeit strict director who believed the best way to coach a band was like coaching a football team. He moved college marching bands away from rigid military formations and was the first to make college marching bands synchronize music and movement. Revelli’s method gained him international acclaim for this new style of precision.

Price A. Doyle was born February 21st, 1896.

Price Doyle was an initiate of the Gamma Delta Chapter at Murray State University and served as former Executive Secretary. He was awarded the “Man of Music” Award posthumously in 1967.

Doyle was also a professor and the head of the School of Music at Murray State from 1930 to 1957, leaving a lasting impression on his Alma Mater. In addition to being an alumnus, the fine arts building at the university was dedicated to him years after its completion, naming it the “Price Doyle Fine Arts Center” on December 5, 1971. Doyle also served as the president of the National Association of Schools of Music. Formed in 1924, it established national standards for undergraduate and graduate degrees at music schools.

W. Francis McBeth was born on March 9th, 1933.

An initiate of the Alpha Iota Chapter at the University of Texas, Brother William Francis McBeth remains one of the most performed American symphonic wind composers. His works, including such pieces as “Kaddish,” “Joyant Narrative,” and “Masque,” are considered to be standard repertoire for most wind ensembles.

McBeth was Professor of Music and Resident Composer at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, from 1957 until his retirement in 1996. As a conductor, he appeared in forty-eight states, three Canadian provinces, Japan, and Australia. He even conducted the Arkansas All-State Band, with future president Bill Clinton playing in the tenor saxophone section.

Up until his death in 2012 and even still, McBeth continues to be a prime musical influence on several American composers. In his lifetime he was honored with several awards including the Howard Hanson Prize at the Eastman School of Music, the ASCAP Special Award, Kappa Kappa Psi’s Distinguished Service to Music Medal, the John Philip Sousa Foundations Sudler Medal of Honor, and many others.

Brother McBeth became the Fraternity’s 15th “Man of Music” 1988.