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• Haskell Harr
• Ralph Hermann
• Merle J. Isaac
• Lulu Ising Collection
• Barbara Larsen
• Howard R. Lyons
• Charles T. Menghini
• Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic

Collections H-M

Haskell Harr, Papers

Haskell Harr was born in 1894. He played percussion with theatre and radio bands in the early 1920s. When the “talkies” (motion pictures with sound) put these bands out of business, he decided to study at VanderCook School of Music. He also continued to perform widely and even played xylophone accompaniment for Sally Rand during the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. Harr’s life as a wandering musician ended when he became bandmaster of Glenwood School for Boys in 1934. Settling down into a faculty routine, he found time to put in book form the many percussion routines that he had been practicing throughout the years. The result was the widely popular, “Haskell’s Drum Method.” Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Harr went overseas with the 122nd Field Artillery band, with which he had been serving as a reservist bandmaster. He returned to teaching after the war and became Director of Education for Slingerland Drum Co. He returned to VanderCook College of Music, earning his Bachelor of Music degree in music education in 1952. Harr eventually became head of the percussion department at VanderCook College. He died in 1986.

Series include scrapbooks compiled by Harr.

1.3 cubic feet (1 box)

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Ralph Hermann, Papers

Composer Ralph Hermann was born in 1914. He composed works for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, and concert band.

Series includes a manuscript copy of “Concerto for Horn”, for concert band.

0.43 cubic feet (1 box)

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Merle J. Isaac, Papers

Merle John Isaac was born in 1898. He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from VanderCook College of Music in 1931. He also received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Lewis Institute, which later merged into the Illinois Institute of Technology. Isaac taught at John Marshall High School, VanderCook College of Music, and many other schools and colleges. He became famous as an arranger and composer of music for school bands and orchestras. His works for band include Festive Holiday Overture. He authored several important method books such as String Class Method.

Series include manuscript copies of method books.

.247 cubic feet (1 box)

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Lulu Ising Collection

Lulu Ising is the granddaughter of Theodore Paschedag, a close friend of the VanderCooks.

The collection includes a variety of materials including photographs, music manuscripts, H.A. VanderCook's conducting jacket, cornet and baton, teaching materials written by H.A. VanderCook, correspondence, and film footage of H.A. VanderCook conducting.

5.387 cubic feet (8 boxes)

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Barbara Larsen Collection

This collection includes materials pertaining to high school band director Lynn C. Huffman. Huffman began his career as a member of the teaching staff of the Conn Company. He was band director of Fenton High School, in Bensenville, Illinois from 1927 to 1962. His bands were always among the highest rated in state competitions. Huffman’s successor was VanderCook College of Music graduate Fred Lewis, under whose leadership the Fenton High School Band received recognition as one of the finest high school performance groups in the nation.

Series include photographs and concert programs.

0.43 cubic feet (1 box)

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Howard Raymond Lyons Collection

Howard Raymond Lyons was born in 1899 in Babcock, Wisconsin. He joined with his cousin William “Bill” Lyons and professional saxophonist Clarence “C.L.” McCreery to form the Lyons Band Instrument Company. In the early 1930s, recognizing the growth potential for school bands, Lyons started a highly successful instrument rental program. Together with Neil Kjos, the Lyons Band Instrument Company published the “Lyons Band News,” the voice of the school music industry. This publication later became the “Lyons/Kjos News.” Lyons was a co-founder of the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic, along with Hubert E. Nutt and Neil A. Kjos. Their vision to plan and organize a local band clinic was realized on December 7, 1946, when approximately 120 directors from the Chicago area assembled on Chicago’s West Side to hear a six-hour clinic plus reading session of new music. The Lyons Band Instrument Company, with its strong business and publicity background, helped to support the Clinic in its early years.

The collection includes the book “The Baton and the Pendulum,” by Chester Earl Whiting, signed by the author and dedicated to Lyons.

0.232 cubic feet (1 box)

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Charles T. Menghini, Papers

Charles T. Menghini is Director of Bands and President of VanderCook College of Music. He is an internationally recognized author, clinician, adjudicator, and guest speaker. Menghini received a D.M.A. in wind conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and has received many awards for his work in music education, including two National Band Association Citations of Excellence, the Bandworld Legion of Honor, MENC’s Lowell Mason Award, and the Chicago Outstanding Music Educator Award. He is a member of the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic Convention Committee. Menghini taught at the high school level in the public schools of Kansas and Missouri for 18 years before coming to VanderCook. He also played lead trumpet in the Kansas City Chiefs Professional Football Band.

Series includes published and unpublished works by Charles T. Menghini.

0.232 cubic feet (1 box)

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Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic Collection

Co-founders H.E. Nutt of VanderCook School of Music, Howard Lyons of Lyons Band Instrument Company and Neil A. Kjos of the Kjos Music Company formed the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic in 1946. The Midwest Clinic began as a local entity, quickly expanding to become one of the most recognized instrumental music education clinics in the world. The VanderCook band has been involved with the clinic since the beginning, participating in clinic work, concert performances and other activities.

The collection includes VanderCook College of Music concert programs for all clinics from 1946 to present. Also included are sound recordings of VanderCook College of Music band performances at the Midwest Clinic, dating from 1950 with the following gaps: 1977-80, 1989-91, and 1993. Sound recordings are in a variety of formats, including vinyl discs, cassettes, compact discs and VHS tapes. There are miscellaneous papers in the collection, such as administrative correspondence and documents relating to the Board of Directors for the Midwest Clinic.

4.286 cubic feet (16 boxes)

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