| Albert Austin Harding |
Albert Austin Harding was asked to direct the University of
Illinois Band by the head of the School of Music in the spring
of 1905 while he was still a senior in the College of
Engineering. Harding accepted and was officially a member of
the faculty in the fall of 1905. To Harding, the position was
only a temporary arrangement, as his goal at the time was to
become a municipal and sanitary engineer. After two years of
conducting the band, Harding was officially appointed the
first Director of Bands in 1907, a position he held until his
retirement in 1948. With this appointment Illinois became the
first university to create a distinct band department under a
director of bands. Harding eventually went on to earn a full
professorship in music, making him the first band director on
an American campus to hold this rank.
Professor Harding expanded the traditional roles of bands at
military ceremonies and sporting events and added a great
emphasis on concert band music and transcriptions of symphonic
and chamber pieces. The professionalism and musicianship of
the University of Illinois Bands under Harding were legend and
became the standard to which other colleges and universities
aspired.
Harding enjoyed a very close personal and professional
relationship with the legendary bandmaster, John Philip Sousa.
In the 1920s Sousa dubbed the University of Illinois Band
"the world's greatest college concert band." On March 20,
1930, the band performed a concert with Sousa as its guest
conductor. At the concert, Sousa dedicated his "University of
Illinois March" to the faculty, students, and alumni. Upon
his death in 1932, Sousa left his vast library and treasured
mementoes to the University of Illinois as a gesture of his
high esteem for Harding and his band. The Sousa collection is
now housed in the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
located in the Harding Band Building, named in honor of Albert
Austin Harding and dedicated in 1958. In addition to Sousa,
the University of Illinois Band had many other guest
conductors while under Harding's direction. Among these were
Edwin Franko Goldman, Henry Fillmore, Frank Simon, Harold
Bachman, Guy Holmes, and Victor Grabel.
Harding was a charter member of the American Bandmasters
Association and served as its president in 1937-38. In 1956,
he was elected to succeed John Philip Sousa and Edwin Franko
Goldman as Honorary Life President. Harding was honorary life
president of the College Band Directors National Association.
Harding was among the founding members of the Alpha Xi chapter
of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Mr. Harding died on December 3, 1958.
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