Composer Ron Nelson has Died, Aged 94

The American composer and conductor was particularly renowned for his music for wind band

The American composer, conductor, and pedagogue Ron Nelson was born in Joliet, Illinois in 1929. Nelson received all of his training at Rochester's Eastman School of Music — from undergraduate studies through to his doctorate. During this period, his teachers were Louis Mennini, Bernard Rogers, and Howard Hanson. This work was supplemented with time spent in France, at the École normale de musique and at the Paris Conservatoire, thanks to a Fulbright grant.

At the conclusion of his studies, Nelson took a post at Brown University, where he was to remain until the end of his teaching career in 1993.

Nelson wrote commissioned works for several organizations, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, the USAF Band and Chorus, Musashino Wind Ensemble, Aspen Music Festival and numerous colleges and universities.

He also received grants and awards from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Howard Foundation, ASCAP, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Much of Nelson's music was for wind band. His 1992 work Passacaglia (Homage on B-A-C-H) was the first piece to win all three major wind band composition prizes during one period — the National Band Association Prize, the American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Award, and the Sudler International Prize.

In 1991, Nelson became the first musician to hold the Acuff Chair of Excellence in the Creative Arts.

Our condolences to Nelson's family, friends, and colleagues.