05/05/2020
Sad news. Rest in peace Dr. Tillis
It is very very sad news to share with you about the recent passing of Dr. Frederick C. Tillis. Dr. Tillis's contributions to the UMass Amherst community, Music Department, Fine Arts Center, and Jazz in July are pieces of the greater impact he had on people, and American culture through music composition, performance, and education, poetry, and arts access and administration. Please learn more about the work of Dr. Tillis in his bio below.
Due to the current social conditions, Dr. Tillis's family cannot currently hold a proper service but will be planning a memorial service in the future when it is deemed safe for people to gather again. Please feel comfortable sharing fond memories and thoughts about Dr. Fred Tillis in the comments.
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Sing One More Verse
One More Verse
Is all the children need remember
For they shall be first
Come January or December
One more verse
Must be whispered in their ear
One more song must be repeated again and again
Children we love you, and you'll always be dear.
---Frederick C. Tillis
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Frederick C. Tillis, musician, composer, poet, and arts advocate, based in Amherst, MA, was born in Galveston, Texas on January 5, 1930. He is a B.A. graduate of Wiley College and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Iowa. His catalog includes more than 125 compositions and commissions, spanning both jazz and classical European traditions in various media - orchestral, jazz, instrumental, choral, chamber music, and vocal works. Melodic and harmonic textures reflect elements of various musics of the world, including Asian and Western cultures, as well as natural outgrowths of his ethnic and cultural background.
Tillis' music is performed nationally and abroad. Among his commissioned compositions are "A Symphony of Songs," a choral/orchestral work based on poems by Wallace Stevens and commissioned by The Hartford Chorale, Inc. (1999); "A Festival Journey," (1992) and "Ring Shout Concerto," (1974) for percussion, written for Max Roach and premiered by Max Roach and symphony orchestra; and "Concerto for Piano" (Jazz Trio) and symphony orchestra (1983) written for Billy Taylor and performed with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Tillis has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 1997 Commonwealth Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and an award for outstanding service from the International Association of Jazz Educators. As Professor of Music at the University of Massachusetts, he taught music composition and a survey course in the history of Afro-American Music & Musicians.
As a jazz saxophonist, he performed and traveled with the Tillis-Holmes Jazz Duo and the Tradewinds Jazz Ensemble to Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, the former Soviet Union, Switzerland, and Turkey. In addition, he consulted as a Master Artist at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa, served as a Master Artist in residence at the Akiyoshidai International Art Village in Yamaguchi, Japan and conducted a three-week residency on behalf of the United States Information Agency at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand in 1991 to help the school establish a major in jazz.
Dr. Tillis has published seventeen books of poetry including: In the Spirit and the Flesh, Images of Mind and Heart, In Celebration, Of Moons, Moods, Myths, and the Muse, Harlem Echoes, Children's Corner: From A to Z, Seasons, Symbols, and Stones, Akiyoshidai Diary, and Scattered Ghosts, and Southern Winds,
Dr. Tillis is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Music and Dance and serves as Director Emeritus of the University Fine Arts Center and is Co-founder and Director Emeritus of the Jazz in July Workshops in Improvisation at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
