Eastman Wind Ensemble

UpClose: A Talk with Donald Hunsberger and Mark Davis Scatterday, Conductors of Frederick Fennell’s Legendary Eastman Wind Ensemble.

The Eastman Wind Ensemble is America’s leading wind ensemble. Its core of about 50 performers includes undergraduate and graduate students of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. Frederick Fennell first formulated the general concept of the wind ensemble at Eastman more than 50 years ago. Under his leadership the group became known as the pioneering force in the symphonic wind band movement in the United States and abroad. A. Clyde Roller served as conductor between 1962 and 1964, continuing the tradition established by Fennell. Donald Hunsberger became conductor in 1965 and led the ensemble for 37 years to international prominence. The ensemble’s current director, Mark Davis Scatterday, was introduced as the fourth conductor of this prestigious group during the EWE’s 50th anniversary celebration on February 8, 2002.

Donald Hunsberger, conductor emeritus, and Mark Davis Scatterday, current conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, sat down with SBO to tell us the history of their storied music program, from its origins to where it stands today.