Ron Nelson

Ron Nelson was born in Joliet, Illinois on December 14, 1929. He wrote his first composition at age six (entitled "The Sailboat" and began studying piano that same year. He taught himself to play string bass in order to play in the Joliet Township High School band. The director, Bruce Houseknecht, encouraged him to compose, so Dr. Nelson wrote a twenty-two minute concerto for piano and symphonic band, which he performed at age seventeen. He studied composition at the Eastman School of Music with Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers. Dr. Nelson earned his BMus degree in 1952, MMus in 1953, and DMA in 1956, all from Eastman. He went to Paris in 1954 on a Fulbright Grant and studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique and the Paris Conservatory with Tony Aubin. Returning to Eastman, he became involved with film music. Following graduation, he joined the music faculty of Brown University in 1956, served as Chairman of the Music Department from 1963 to 1973, and in 1991 became the first musician to be awarded the Roy Acuff Chair of Excellence in the Creative Arts. Upon his retirement in 1993, he was named professor emeritus. An active composer, conductor, and clinician, Dr. Nelson now resides in Arizona. Some of his other works for band include Medieval Suite (1983), Aspen Jubilee (1984), Resonances I (1991), Morning Alleluias (1991) and Passacaglia (Homage on B-A-C-H) (1992). Passacaglia (Homage on B-A-C-H) was the first to win the National Band Association prize for wind composition, the American Bandmasters Association's ABA/Ostwald Band Composition Contest, and the Louis and Virginia Sudler International Wind Band Composition Competition. Dr. Nelson and Martin Mailman were life-long friends.

Christopher Tucker

Christopher Tucker is currently a masters student of composition at the University of Texas in Austin studying with Donald Grantham. A graduate of the University of North Texas, he holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Composition. His principal composition teacher was Dr. Martin Mailman. During music composition workshops and masterclasses, Tucker has studied with composers Elliot Del Borgo, Walter Hartley, and Samuel Adler. Tucker has written for diverse mediums ranging from unaccompanied solos to orchestral works. As a clarinetist, Christopher Tucker studied with Dr. John Scott and Dr. Edwin Riley. Mr. Tucker performed for four years and recorded a total of eighteen CD's with the Grammy-nominated North Texas Wind Symphony under the direction of Eugene Corporon. As a copyist, he has worked with such notable composers as William Latham, Joseph Klein, Daron Hagen, and Ken Benshoof. Mr. Tucker is presently involved as music editor in the "Forgotten Songs of John Philip Sousa" project, which is a revival of Sousa's vocal and chamber ensemble works.