The mission of a school music teacher and/or ensemble director is to illuminate the expressive power found in great music. By illuminating and exposing students to music’s expressive power, teachers and ensemble directors can help students discover and feel the spiritual and intellectual benefits to be gained through performance and the consumption of great music. The “illumination” of great music provides a better foundation for creating a society of “music lovers” than “shining” or “spotlighting” the performance level of school music groups.
Frank Battisti
- Biographical Information
Frank L. Battisti is Conductor Emeritus of the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble which he founded and conducted for 30 years (1969-99). He was also Principal Guest Conductor of the Longy School of Music Chamber Winds, Cambridge, MA from 2000 – 2008 and founder and Music Director of the Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artists Wind Ensemble from 2000 - 2004. As a guest conductor he has directed wind ensembles/bands throughout the United States, England, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Scandinavia, Australia, China, Taiwan, Canada, South America, South Korea, Iceland and the former U.S.S.R. Battisti began his career as an instrumental teacher in the Ithaca (New York) City School District in 1953. He served as Director of the Ithaca High School Band from 1955 - 1967. The Band, achieved national recognition, under Battisti’s direction, as one of the finest and most unique high school bands in the nation. In 1997 the John Philip Sousa Foundation selected Battisti's Ithaca High School Concert Band for their Historic Roll of Honor of High School Concert Bands, 1920 -1980. Battisti was also responsible for commissioning and premiering over 60 works for wind ensemble by distinguished American and international composers including Leslie Bassett, John Harbison, Witold Lutoslawski, Vincent Persichetti, Michael Colgrass, Gunther Schuller, Sir Michael Tippett, Robert Ward and Alec Wilder. A Past President of the U.S. College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), Battisti is also a member of the American Bandmasters Association and founder of the National Wind Ensemble Conference (1970), World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (1981), Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble (1970) and New England College Band Association (1981). He has received many awards and honors including Honorary Doctorates from Ithaca College, Rhode Island College, New England Conservatory of Music; Lifetime Achievement Awards from Ithaca College, New England Conservatory and the New England Band Directors Association; the Lowell Mason Award from the Massachusetts Music Educators Association in 1998, American School Band Directors Association Edwin Franko Goldman Award, Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic's Medal of Honor as well as the National Band Association’s AWAPA. In 1986 and 1993 he was a visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, UK.Battisti has authored ten books including The NEW Winds of Change and On Becoming a Conductor as well as numerous articles on wind ensemble/band literature, conducting and music education for national and international journals and magazines. Presently he is a consulting editor for The Instrumentalist.