![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help
improve it or discuss these issues on the
talk page. (
Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Robert Wendel is an American composer of classical music.
Robert Wendel was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1951. He attended the University of Connecticut, [1] as a double major in chemistry and music. While in university, Wendel studied with Hale Smith and privately with Leroy Anderson. He also served as assistant conductor of the University of Connecticut Symphony and the New Britain Symphony. After receiving his Master of Arts degree, Wendel worked in musical theater for several years, before he moved to New York City and became an orchestra member and stand-by conductor at Radio City Music Hall, and a conductor/arranger for Carol Channing. [2]
His work has been featured every December since 2001 on the annual Flint Symphony Orchestra Holiday Pops telecast on WJRT-TV 12, [3] at a memorial concert for the Challenger astronauts at the Kennedy Space Center, at a concert to honor the Tuskegee Airmen, [4] and on the 2006 National Memorial Day Concert to honor the opening of the National World War II Memorial telecast live nationwide on PBS, [5] and in 2009 as part of the Abraham Lincoln tribute, and again in 2011 for Gen. Colin Powell's welcome home to our troops on the National Mall, and yet again in 2017 [6] it was featured to salute The Tuskegee Airmen and World War 2 veterans.
As publisher "Robert Wendel Music" represents works by Tracey Rush, Nancy Bloomer Deussen, [7] Leroy Anderson, [8] Jerry Herman, Christopher Tyler Nickel, and others.
Wendel's music is firmly rooted in tonality, melody, and the more classic pops sound of Leroy Anderson, Robert Russell Bennett, Richard Hayman, and Jack Mason, with influences from Ralph Vaughan Williams and Alan Hovhaness. His output is focused on holidays, Americana/patriotic, comedy, and works for children and educational concerts. He has also written for "Cirque de la Symphonie". [9]
Among his most notable and frequently performed works are his "Classical Christmas Suite" which revisits 5 Christmas Carols as if they were written by 4 classical composers: "Coventry Carol" as if it were written by Vaughan Williams, "Christmas a la Valse", and his originals: "Fanfare For Freedom, " "Commemoration, " and "Ride of the Headless Horseman." "Fanfare For Freedom" has had the distinction of being the opening selection at the Atlanta Symphony's 4 July concerts for 7 years in a row, and "Commemoration," was performed at a memorial concert remembering the Challenger Astronauts at the Kennedy Space Center launch pad, has been recorded by the Tasmanian Symphony, was featured live coast-to-coast in the 2006 National Memorial Day Concert on PBS to dedicate the WW II Monument, and again on the 2009 and 2011 concerts. [10]
In December 2014, Robert Wendel was awarded The American Prize Judge's Special Citation for "Music for Use. Well Crafted, Accessible and Performance-Ready." [11] Wendel received The American Prize as one of five "Honored Artists" for 2015. [12]
![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help
improve it or discuss these issues on the
talk page. (
Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Robert Wendel is an American composer of classical music.
Robert Wendel was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1951. He attended the University of Connecticut, [1] as a double major in chemistry and music. While in university, Wendel studied with Hale Smith and privately with Leroy Anderson. He also served as assistant conductor of the University of Connecticut Symphony and the New Britain Symphony. After receiving his Master of Arts degree, Wendel worked in musical theater for several years, before he moved to New York City and became an orchestra member and stand-by conductor at Radio City Music Hall, and a conductor/arranger for Carol Channing. [2]
His work has been featured every December since 2001 on the annual Flint Symphony Orchestra Holiday Pops telecast on WJRT-TV 12, [3] at a memorial concert for the Challenger astronauts at the Kennedy Space Center, at a concert to honor the Tuskegee Airmen, [4] and on the 2006 National Memorial Day Concert to honor the opening of the National World War II Memorial telecast live nationwide on PBS, [5] and in 2009 as part of the Abraham Lincoln tribute, and again in 2011 for Gen. Colin Powell's welcome home to our troops on the National Mall, and yet again in 2017 [6] it was featured to salute The Tuskegee Airmen and World War 2 veterans.
As publisher "Robert Wendel Music" represents works by Tracey Rush, Nancy Bloomer Deussen, [7] Leroy Anderson, [8] Jerry Herman, Christopher Tyler Nickel, and others.
Wendel's music is firmly rooted in tonality, melody, and the more classic pops sound of Leroy Anderson, Robert Russell Bennett, Richard Hayman, and Jack Mason, with influences from Ralph Vaughan Williams and Alan Hovhaness. His output is focused on holidays, Americana/patriotic, comedy, and works for children and educational concerts. He has also written for "Cirque de la Symphonie". [9]
Among his most notable and frequently performed works are his "Classical Christmas Suite" which revisits 5 Christmas Carols as if they were written by 4 classical composers: "Coventry Carol" as if it were written by Vaughan Williams, "Christmas a la Valse", and his originals: "Fanfare For Freedom, " "Commemoration, " and "Ride of the Headless Horseman." "Fanfare For Freedom" has had the distinction of being the opening selection at the Atlanta Symphony's 4 July concerts for 7 years in a row, and "Commemoration," was performed at a memorial concert remembering the Challenger Astronauts at the Kennedy Space Center launch pad, has been recorded by the Tasmanian Symphony, was featured live coast-to-coast in the 2006 National Memorial Day Concert on PBS to dedicate the WW II Monument, and again on the 2009 and 2011 concerts. [10]
In December 2014, Robert Wendel was awarded The American Prize Judge's Special Citation for "Music for Use. Well Crafted, Accessible and Performance-Ready." [11] Wendel received The American Prize as one of five "Honored Artists" for 2015. [12]