October 17,
2005
Composer Warren Benson dies
Benson |
composer best known for his dynamic works for percussion and winds, Warren Benson, professor emeritus of composition, died October 6 at the age of 81. Benson
became professor of composition at the Eastman School in 1967. During his 26-year tenure at the school, he was honored with an Alumni Citation for Excellence, the Kilbourn professorship for distinguished teaching, and was named University Mentor. In 1994, he was appointed professor emeritus.
A professional performer by the age of 14, Benson played timpani in the Detroit Symphony orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, Leonard Bernstein, and others while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Benson was awarded two successive Fulbright grants during 1950 to 1952 to teach at Anatolia College in Salonika, Greece. There, he established a five-year bilingual music curriculum and organized the Anatolia College Chorale, the first scholastic coeducational choral group in that country. For the next 14 years, he taught at Ithaca College, where, in 1953, he organized the first touring percussion ensemble in the eastern United States and the second worldwide.
Benson composed more than 100 works, and his music has been performed in more than 40 countries. He received numerous awards for his work, including the John Simon Guggenheim Composer Fellowship, the Lillian Fairchild Award, a Citation of Excellence from the National Band Association, many ASCAP Serious Music Awards, and three National Endowment for the Arts composer commissions. He was a founding member of the Percussive Arts Society and was elected to its Hall of Fame as well as to the National Band Association Academy of Excellence.
In addition to music, Warren Benson also wrote and published Creative Projects in Musicianship as well as poetry and humorous fiction. In 1999, he celebrated his 75th birthday with the publication of . . . And My Daddy Will Play the Drums: Limericks for Friends of Drummers.
Benson is survived by his wife, Patricia, as well as four children and 10 grandchildren. An effort is under way to establish a Warren Benson Archive at the Sibley Music Library, and his family plans to endow the creation of the Warren and Pat Benson Forum on Creativity. A memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday, October 29, at the First Unitarian Church, 220 S. Winton Road.
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