The Yale Band will present a tribute to retired musical director Keith Wilson at its concert on November 17 in Woolsey Hall.
The concert, which begins at 8 p.m., is free and open to the public.
Wilson was a teacher, administrator and musician whose career at Yale spanned over 40 years. A major figure in music throughout the second half of the century, he retired in 1987.
When Wilson was hired in 1946, he was the only wind professor at the School of Music and also served as director of the Yale Bands, a position he held until 1972. He later became associate dean of the school and director of the Norfolk Summer School of Music. He was a world-class clarinetist and teacher, performing often in recital, chamber music and concertos. He achieved national prominence both as a conductor and as a clarinetist and received numerous honors at Yale and throughout the country during his long career.
During the concert, School of Music Dean Robert Blocker will present Wilson with the school’s two highest awards: the Sanford Medal and the Gustav Stoeckel Award. Distinguished alumni such as clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and composer Mitch Leigh will be on hand to honor their former teacher, and the band, under the direction of Thomas C. Duffy, will play Wilson’s magnum opus: his transcription of Paul Hindemith’s “Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber.”
The band will also perform Duffy’s own composition, “Butterflies and Bees.” School of Music Professor Allan Dean will be trumpet soloist in Joseph Turrin’s “Chronicles,” a work commissioned by the Yale Band.
