Meredith Willson (1902-1984)
was born in Mason City, Iowa, and grew up as a small-town American boy with dreams to one day play in Sousa's band and be in show business. Little did he know, this is what he was destined to do.
Willson was always musical; he played the flute in his school band and could "fake" on any instrument. When he was a young man, he moved to New York to study flute with Georges Barrère, a famous French flautist. He eventually attended what would later become the Juilliard School, a highly prestigious music institution.
While still in New York, he signed on to play in John Philip Sousa's famous band, and toured the United States and the rest of the world. He played with many other widely-known musicians while playing for Sousa, such as Ellis McDiarmid, Arthur Pryor, and Simon Mantia.
After playing with Sousa, Willson became a member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, where he played under Maestro Arturo Toscanini. Willson played in the first symphony orchestra concert he had ever experienced; there were no large orchestras in Mason City. Unlike most other musicians who aspire to play in an orchestra as prestigious and well-known as the New York Philharmonic, this was just another stepping stone for Meredith Willson.
He then moved across the country to work on television shows and radio shows in Hollywood, California, where he began to compose at a much faster rate than ever before. While in this position, he was approached about writing a musical.
Meredith Willson tells his stories very modestly, as if he even surprised himself by accomplishing everything that came his way.
Read about these stories and many more in his two books, And There I Stood with My Piccolo and But He Doesn't Know the Territory.
was born in Mason City, Iowa, and grew up as a small-town American boy with dreams to one day play in Sousa's band and be in show business. Little did he know, this is what he was destined to do.
Willson was always musical; he played the flute in his school band and could "fake" on any instrument. When he was a young man, he moved to New York to study flute with Georges Barrère, a famous French flautist. He eventually attended what would later become the Juilliard School, a highly prestigious music institution.
While still in New York, he signed on to play in John Philip Sousa's famous band, and toured the United States and the rest of the world. He played with many other widely-known musicians while playing for Sousa, such as Ellis McDiarmid, Arthur Pryor, and Simon Mantia.
After playing with Sousa, Willson became a member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, where he played under Maestro Arturo Toscanini. Willson played in the first symphony orchestra concert he had ever experienced; there were no large orchestras in Mason City. Unlike most other musicians who aspire to play in an orchestra as prestigious and well-known as the New York Philharmonic, this was just another stepping stone for Meredith Willson.
He then moved across the country to work on television shows and radio shows in Hollywood, California, where he began to compose at a much faster rate than ever before. While in this position, he was approached about writing a musical.
Meredith Willson tells his stories very modestly, as if he even surprised himself by accomplishing everything that came his way.
Read about these stories and many more in his two books, And There I Stood with My Piccolo and But He Doesn't Know the Territory.
References:
Temple, L. (n.d.) Willson, Meredith. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/subscriber/article/grove/music/30371
Willson, M. (1948). And there I stood with my piccolo. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis.
Willson, M. (1959) But he doesn't know the territory. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis.
Temple, L. (n.d.) Willson, Meredith. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/subscriber/article/grove/music/30371
Willson, M. (1948). And there I stood with my piccolo. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis.
Willson, M. (1959) But he doesn't know the territory. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis.