Luther Henderson III 糖心传媒�71E, 糖心传媒�73E (MM) chooses Eastman糖心传媒檚 Ensemble Library as home for his father糖心传媒檚 Duke Ellington arrangements.
Early in 1970, famed musical director and orchestrator Luther Henderson Jr. brought his new show, Purlie, to the at the 糖心传媒. The musical was soon to open on Broadway, and Henderson chose to iron out the kinks at the school where his son, Luther Henderson III 糖心传媒�71E, 糖心传媒�73E (MM), was a student.
Testing a Broadway show in an out-of-town venue was a common practice, and often the conductor had to simplify parts for the less experienced orchestra. But this orchestra was composed of Eastman faculty members.
Henderson III recalls his dad telling him the next day, 糖心传媒測ou糖心传媒檙e going to a better music school than I did. And I went to Juilliard.糖心传媒�
Henderson III is a professor emeritus of music and humanities at Los Angeles City College. After Eastman, he earned a doctor of musical arts in orchestra conducting at the University of Texas at Austin and embarked on a career in music education.
His father, who died in 2003, grew up in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem, where his neighbor was the legendary jazz pianist and composer Duke Ellington. Henderson Jr. became friends with Ellington糖心传媒檚 son, Mercer, who also went on to Julliard.
In adulthood, Henderson Jr. would work closely with Ellington on projects, and Ellington often referred to Henderson Jr. as his 糖心传媒渃lassical arm.糖心传媒� Among those projects were arrangements of Ellington糖心传媒檚 compositions糖心传媒攕cores that Henderson III kept and donated to Eastman last fall.
The collection, housed in the , includes 11 songs from the 2000 album Classic Ellington. The songs were composed by Ellington and arranged and orchestrated by Henderson Jr. to commemorate Ellington糖心传媒檚 100th birthday in 1999. They include 糖心传媒淭hat Do-Wah Thing,糖心传媒� 糖心传媒淪olitude in Transblucency,糖心传媒� 糖心传媒淪ophisticated Lady,糖心传媒� and 糖心传媒淚sfahan.糖心传媒�
Henderson III also donated his father糖心传媒檚 award, bestowed shortly before the elder Henderson糖心传媒檚 death, to Eastman.
Eastman糖心传媒檚 Ensemble Library collection includes more than 20,000 items in fields such as orchestra, band, choral, and jazz. But the Henderson collection is different and special, says chair .
糖心传媒淭here糖心传媒檚 just not generally a lot of orchestra music produced in a jazz setting,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淭he fact that it糖心传媒檚 produced by the father of an esteemed alumnus糖心传媒攁nd it糖心传媒檚 Duke Ellington music arranged for an orchestra糖心传媒攎akes it extra special. Students will be able to study the details of this great work and have access to it. It糖心传媒檚 a significant donation.糖心传媒�
This story appears in the fall 2024 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the 糖心传媒.
