1960: Florian Mueller, Overture in GFlorian F. Mueller (1909–1983) was principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a major developer of the American school of oboe playing. He performed under Frederick Stock, Artur Rodzinsky, Rafael Kubelik, and Fritz Reiner, and guest composer-conductors Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky, and Zoltan Kodaly. As a composer he heard some of his works performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Mueller left the CSO to serve on the faculty at the University of Michigan, where he taught oboe and played in the faculty woodwind quintet and baroque trio.
Mueller also served on the faculty at Roosevelt University, where he was professor of oboe and music theory, conductor of the university orchestra, and a member of the university senate.
Mueller’s Overture in G, which won the 1960 Ostwald Award, is a piece in sonata-allegro form containing a fugue based on a hymn tune by Thomas Tallis.
1961: Joseph Willcox Jenkins, Cumberland Gap OvertureJoseph Willcox Jenkins (1928–2014) was an American composer and professor of music. Jenkins served as faculty at the Mary Pappert School of Music, at Duquesne University, where he served as head of the theory and composition department and taught music theory, orchestration, and composition, and ended his career as Professor Emeritus.
Jenkins studied pre-law at Saint Joseph's University (then St. Joseph's College) in Philadelphia. During this time he also studied composition and counterpoint with Vincent Persichetti at the Philadelphia Conservatory. Jenkins received a master of music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under Thomas Canning, Howard Barlow, Bernard Rogers, and Howard Hanson, among others, and he received his doctorate from Catholic University, where he studied with William L. Graves and Conrad Bernier.
During his military service, Jenkins was the arranger for the United States Army Field Band and the Armed Forces Radio Network, as well as chief arranger and assistant conductor of the United States Army Chorus.
In addition to his university teaching, Jenkins worked in Pittsburgh as the organist and orchestra director at St. Edmund's Academy and composed works for the orchestra at the Ellis School. He composed works for other elementary and secondary schools, including the Holy Innocents High School of Pittsburgh and the Marlborough School of Los Angeles.
Jenkins won the 1961 Ostwald Award for his Cumberland Gap Overture, inspired by the Cumberland region of the Appalachians between Kentucky and Tennessee.
1962: Fritz Velke, Concertino for Band John Arthur "Fritz" Velke II (1930–2005) was a Fairfax County (Virginia) music teacher and conductor of the National Concert Band of America until his retirement in 1997. He received a bachelor's degree in 1953 and a master's degree in 1955, both in music, from Catholic University and was president and chief executive of Velke Publishing Co.
Velke was born Washington, DC, and grew up in Alexandria. As a child he studied piano, violin, and trombone. He played several seasons as a violinist in the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra and as a trombonist in the U.S. Air Force Band. In 1986, he began performing with Windjammers Unlimited and in 1991 became a member of the guest conductor staff.
Velke taught music in Fairfax County Schools for 29 years. His ensembles included elementary school and high school bands, high school chorus, elementary strings, and middle and high school orchestra including his award-winning orchestra at West Springfield High School. He also conducted several community bands, including the Alexandria Citizens' Band and the Falls Church Civic Band.
Velke won the ABA Ostwald Award in 1962 for his Concertino for Band.
Frederic Ashe (1917–1966) began piano studies at the age of eight with graduates of the Peabody Conservatory and played cornet in his high school band in Pennsylvania. Ashe received a bachelor of music degree and master of music degree from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
During World War II, Ashe served in the 24th Infantry Division Band as a trumpeter, arranger, and dance band leader. In 1948, he joined the faculty at the University of Miami School of Music where he taught theory, orchestration, and composition, served as chairman of the theory department, and was a member of the School of Music council.
Winner of the 1963 Ostwald Award, Ashe’s Concert Suite contains three movements: Fanfare and Scherzo, Andante Religioso, and Allegro Vivace.
1964: Robert Jager, Symphony for BandRobert Edward Jager (b. 1939) was arranger/composer for the U.S. Navy at the Armed Forces School of Music from 1962 to 1965. In 1968 he graduated from the University of Michigan. He then went on to be the lecturer in composition and directing at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1971, he joined the faculty at Tennessee Tech University and remained there until his retirement as professor emeritus in 2001.
Jager has composed over 150 published works for band, orchestra, chorus, and various chamber combinations. Major ensembles that have commissioned his music include the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, the Republic of China Band Association, several large universities, and all five of the Washington-based military bands.
He has received numerous honors for his works, including the Roth Orchestra Award twice, and is the only three-time winner of the ABA Ostwald Award (1964, 1968, 1972). He won the 1964 Award for two movements from his Symphony for Band.
Jager’s Diamond Variations is a set of five variations on the trio melody of the march Illinois Loyalty. The piece was written for the 75th anniversary of the University of Illinois Concert Band.
Symphony for Band
Diamond Variations
1965: Frederick Beyer, Overture for BandFrederick Beyer (1926–2001) earned a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University, a master of arts in composition from Columbia University, where he studied with Otto Luening and Jack Beeson, and a doctor of music degree in composition from Florida State University, where he studied with John Boda. Beyer was band and orchestra director at Largo High School in Florida for nine years before becoming professor of music at Greensboro College and music director at the Eastern Music Festival. Beyer wrote two commissions for the Eastern Music Festival and was awarded the North Carolina Music Teachers Composition Commission.
Winner of the 1965 Ostwald Award, Beyer’s Overture for Band features syncopated rhythms, varying meters, and a strong lyrical style.
1966: John Barnes Chance, Variations on a Korean Folk SongJohn Barnes Chance (1932–1972) studied composition with Clifton Williams, Kent Kennan, and Paul Pick at the University of Texas, Austin, where he received a bachelor of music and master of music and was honored with the Carl Owens Award for student composition. He served on the faculty of the University of Kentucky in 1966 and taught there until his death in 1972.
After college he played timpani for the Austin Symphony Orchestra before becoming an arranger for the Fourth and Eighth United States Army Bands. Chance was also a composer-in-residence for the Ford Foundation Young Composers Project in Greensboro, North Carolina, from 1960 to 1962.
Chance won the 1966 ABA Ostwald Award for Variations on a Korean Folk Song, now a standard of the symphonic band repertoire. The piece contains five variations on the song “Arirang,” a melody the composer discovered while stationed in Korea with the Eighth U.S. Army Band.
1967: Lawrence Weiner, Daedalic SymphonyLawrence Weiner (1932–2009) studied music at the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1954 and master’s in 1956. In 1972, he received a doctorate of musical arts from the University of Miami. Weiner was on faculty and served as Composer-in-Residence at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi from 1974 until his retirement in 2003.
Weiner composed over 150 works in his career, including 40 works for symphonic band. He received commissions and awards from ASCAP, Texas A&M University, the Corpus Christi Symphony, and other notable organizations. His Concerto for Piano and Orchestra and Dialogues for Piano Trio were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
Weiner received the 1967 ABA Ostwald Award for his Daedalic Symphony, which was first performed by the University of Miami Band at the 1967 ABA Convention. The title alludes to the mythological Daedalus, who created the intricate labyrinth for the Minotaur of Crete.
1969: Richard Willis, Aria and ToccataRichard Willis (1929–1997) was an emeritus professor of music and composer-in-residence at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He received a bachelor of music degree from the University of Alabama in 1950, a master of music in composition degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1951, and a PhD from Eastman in 1964.
Willis was a prolific composer whose works were performed throughout the United States and around the world. He received several notable awards for his compositions, including the 1956 Prix de Rome, the Joseph Bearns Prize, and the Howard Hanson Prize. He won the Ostwald Award in 1969 for Aria and Toccata.
