Fennell Recordings

Dear Music Educator:

I wanted to mention a long awaited update that I have completed, and that my web master has finally linked up, to the "Rhythm Masters" web site at www.rhythmmasters.org. The most exciting is the Fennell CD's, which I have also referred to as the "Madison Tapes". In the summer of 1975, I was selected to be one of 16 college educators that participated in Dr. Fennells' first ever conducting symposium, which was held at the University of Wisconsin. To make a long story short, I taped the private session between Dr. Fennell and the 16 conductors (at the begging and pleading of my room mate) which occurred each evening after our group dinner, from about 6:30 to 8:30pm. I had forgotten about the tapes for some time and, in a motivational surge of garage cleaning last summer, stumbled into the tapes once again. They were very old, and several had to be taken apart and re-spooled, but I did save them all long enough to make a set of master CD's. Contained in the "Madison Tapes" are over 700 minutes of Dr. Fennell's view of such topics as: the history of wind band, its relevance in the overall field of music, present great wind band composers and new "up and comers" to keep your eye on, the history and in depth analysis of the concert march (both international and American), personal insights into his own musical background as a young cymbal player in Cleveland Ohio, and most interestingly, where Dr. Fennells felt the wind band movement would be 25 to 30 years from that time. THAT'S RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!

I would not do anything with these tapes unless I directly got Dr. Fennell's permission. It took me a while, but when I finally got a hold of him by phone, he was so gracious. He only met me once, thirty years ago, but it felt like we were long time friends reminiscing about old times. When I asked him if I could share the tapes with my colleagues, he did not hesitate, and gave me permission to share them with whoever might be interested. The only thing Dr. Fennell requested of me, is that I send him his own set of CD's, which I did right away. He confessed he was rather interested in what his own predictions were back at that time.

So, that's where I am right now. I'm not very knowledgeable about CD technology, and admit the files are large. There are no tracks utilized, each side of a cassette tape was copied as is. If there is a college director, or school with the appropriate facilities, that may wish to take on the project of re-organizing the CDs', let me know. I'll try to burn a set of masters and send them out to you. If your typing a paper, doing grades, or just want to listen to something other than the usual music, talk or sports, you might want to check it out. If you have any suggestions, or just like what you hear, let me know. Once again, you can access the CD's on the "Rhythm Masters" web site under "Fennell's Recordings."