Local Classical Featured Artist – 03/04/24 – 03/17/24
In this week’s playlist, we feature Indianapolis-born composer, Orion R Farrar! Farra’s father, John, a shoemaker who was born in England, migrated to America, where he met and married Amanda, born in Indiana. A year after Orion’s birth the Farrar family moved to Warren, Ohio, where the young musician completed high school and, at the age of 19, enrolled in Dana’s Musical Institute, later (since 1941) known as the Dana School of Music of Youngstown State University. Farrar enrolled in the four-year course and earned diplomas in music theory, composition, and cornet. After graduation, he stayed at the school as a faculty member and bandmaster for seven years. Frederick, the Farrars’ first son, was born in Warren in September 1893. For a time Farrar, his wife, and their son, Frederick, lived with his parents and his sister, Ora, in Warren. In 1896 a move was made to Indiana, where Farrar organized and conducted the Indiana State Band (not affiliated with the college).
Farrar wrote most of his marches around the turn of the century. His music was melodious, well-written, and playable by the amateur bands with which he worked. In addition to Bombasto and Indiana State Band, which are still very popular, the National Concert Band of America and the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Band recorded the following for the Heritage of the March series: Aithotas (1895), Banner of Freedom (1901), Col. Roosevelt’s Galop (1898), Columbiana (1902), and Fort Frayne (1901). Other works include the overture Northeastern Ohio Band Association (1891) and the marches Americus, Canton Warren (1897), and D.M.I. (Dana Military Institute, 1898).
We’ll hear the works of this Indiana-born composer and much more when you connect to Classical Music Indy Streaming’s Local Classical channel.
Resource: The Wind Repertory Project™
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