Performing Arts Library > SCPA > ABA > Ernest Williams Collection > Highlights
The Ernest Williams Alumni Association met for the last time in
July of 2002. To honor the occasion, the American Bandmasters Association
Research Center created this page containing hightlights from the Ernest
Williams Collection. The images shown here are just a few of the
thousands of items in the collection that document the legacy of Ernest
Williams and his students.
Below is the cover page to Williams's fifth annual composition
competition. As we can see, a number of well-known composers acted as
judges. Of special interest to the ABA Research Center are the Honorary
Sponsors, several of whom are well represented by collections in the
Research Center.
Williams often conducted his students in concerts. This
undated image also contains the signatures of many of Williams's
pupils.
For many instruments, Williams hired the very best teachers from bands
and orchestras across the country. Here, the great trombonist, Arthur
Pryor, gives an outdoor studio lession at the Ernest Williams Summer
Camp.
Many of Williams's students went on to successful careers. This
postcard features Frank Elsass. The back of the card reads "Frank
Elsass, a remarkable Cornet Virtuoso, never fails to win his audiences
and through his radio broadcasts has become nationally famous. For the
past five years he has been featured Cornet Soloist on the Radio with
the Famous Goldman Band of New York City. He is a member of the faculty
of The Ernest Williams School of Music and as first trumpet has also
been featured with the Nationally Known "Barrere Little Symphony."
Like any music camp, summers at the Ernest Williams Music Camp saw both
work and play. There are hundreds of snap shots in the collection
documenting camp life. This photo is of Madelyn Bogle and Ruth Horn.
Here we see George Shields, Harold McVain, and Roger Smith.
This photograph is of students Joe Frey, Rusty Llewellyn, Francis
Schroeder, Charles Hill, Tony Ferrara, Frank Elsass, and George Howard.
The alumni of the Ernest Williams School and the summer camp have been
meeting regularly to pay tribute to their former teacher. In 1981 they
met at Fort Myer, Virginia and celebrated the centennial of Williams's
birth. Listen to Mayhew Lake's "The Ernest Williams Band School March," performed by the United States Army Band at that meeting.
In 1995 the alumni met at the University of Maryland. That
meeting established the Ernest Williams Collection in the American
Bandmastes Association Research Center.
The American Bandmasters Association Research Center
congratulates the Ernest Williams Alumni Association on their long and
distinguished history. We would also like to thank them for their
continued support of the ABA Research Center.
To learn more about Ernest Williams
Return to Ernest Williams Collection Page
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