Abstract
The band program at the University of Miami (UM), Frost School of Music (FSOM) has a rich and varied history of influential and important directors, including some of the most valued names in the American wind band world who have shaped the program, as band director, faculty member, or non-faculty, but integrally involved friend of the program—such as Henry Fillmore, Frederick Fennell, Clifton Williams, Alfred Reed, and Gary Green. The band program at Miami has also become known for its commitment to the commissioning, performing, and embracing of new music for the wind band medium. This study provides a timeline and oral history of the band program, and how it has developed into what it is today—one that embraces new and innovative music for the wind band. This timeline has been compiled through the interviews of former faculty members and community members who have been connected to the program at different times throughout its history, with the available records from publications such as Ibis, Tempo, Veritas, and the Miami Hurricane. The primary audience for this oral history is graduate students in performance (most specifically wind band conducting programs) and music educators at the collegiate level.