W. Francis McBeth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Francis McBeth was born March 9, 1933 in Ropesville, Texas (near Lubbock). McBeth attended Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX. He is a prolific composer, whose musical repertoire has become a universal standard in wind band literature. He is also one of the most respected conductors of the present.
McBeth received the ASCAP Special Award every year since 1965. In 1988, he was awarded Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia's Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award for his achievement and continued contribution to American music.
From 1957 until retirement in 1996, he taught at Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas. In 1975, he was named Composer Laureate of Arkansas, the first Composer Laureate named in the United States.
Among his major wind works are: Chant and Jubilo, Masque, Kaddish, Joyant Narrative, To Be Fed By Ravens, Capriccio Concertant, Wine From These Grapes, Of Sailors and Whales, Canto, When Rossi Strikes, When Honor Whispers and Shouts, and Divergents.
In 1962 McBeth conducted the Arkansas All-State Band and among the members of the tenor saxophone section was future president Bill Clinton.
He served as the third conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra from 1970 until 1973.
In a recent visit to Christopher Newport University, McBeth was quoted as saying, "I've always hated The Beatles. Four boys from Liverpool with fake Alabama accents... and everything they play, they stole from Little Richie."
