Ron Nelson
Ron Nelson ( born December 14, 1929 in Joliet, Illinois) is an American composer and conductor.
Life
Ron Nelson studied at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in Rochester in upstate New York. He received his Bachelor of Music in 1952, his Master of Music degree in 1953 and his Doctor of Music Arts in 1956. 1955 he studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique and the Conservatoire Superieur in Paris. He then became a member of the faculty of Brown University in Providence. He initially worked as an Assistant Professor, from 1960 as Associate Professor and since 1968 as a full professor, he taught there until his retirement in 1993.
In 1991, he was the first musicologist the Acuff Chair of Excellence in the Creative Arts Arward. In 1993 he got for his composition Passacaglia ( Homage on BACH ) all three major wind band composition prizes of the United States of America, the National Band Association Prize, the American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Prize and the Sudler International Prize. In 1994 he received the Medal of Honor John Philip Sousa Foundation in Washington, DC.
He has received numerous commissions from major orchestras and organizations of the United States of America and abroad. He also worked as Gast-Komponist/Dirigent at various universities in the U.S., such as Illinois University, Yale University, North Texas State University, Western Michigan University, Sam Houston University, Lawrence University, Dartmouth University, Southern Main University, California Technical University, Princeton University. As a composer of works for choir, concert band and orchestra, he has earned an excellent reputation.