Jason K. Fettig
FESTIVAL CLINICIAN
Jason K. Fettig is an internationally recognized conductor of wind band and a highly sought-after educator and clinician. Performances under his baton have occurred in forty-nine U.S. states as well as Japan, the Czech Republic, Austria and The Netherlands, and live concerts have been regularly heard on National Public Radio, on national television broadcasts from the White House, on “The Today Show,” the “David Letterman Show” on PBS, NBC and CBS.
Fettig currently serves as the 8th Director of University Bands and Professor of Conducting at the University of Michigan, continuing a substantial legacy of bands at the institution shepherded by William D. Revelli, H. Robert Reynolds, and Michael Haithcock. He conducts the world renown University of Michigan Symphony Band and leads comprehensive masters and doctoral programs in wind conducting. Additionally, he provides the overarching vision and management for the full scope of band activities at the University, from the Michigan Marching Band to numerous ensembles for both music majors and non-majors alike.
Prior to coming to UofM, Fettig served nearly a decade as the 28th Director of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and Chamber Orchestra, where he is the music adviser to the White House and regularly conducts the Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra at the Execu-tive Mansion. He led the musical program for the Inaugurations of President Donald Trump and President Joseph Biden and the State Funeral of George H.W. Bush. He also served as music director of Washington, D.C.’s historic Gridiron Club, a position held by ev¬ery Marine Band Director since John Philip Sousa.
Fettig has conducted featured performances at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, the international conference of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the Texas Bandmasters Association, and the national conventions of the American Bandmasters Association and the Music Educators National Conference. He has led concerts at prestigious venues and has twice partnered with the National Symphony Orchestra and their Music Director Gianandrea Noseda for special joint performances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He has also collaborated on numerous occasions with legendary composer and conductor John Williams, most recently sharing conducting with Maestro Williams of a gala concert of music at the Kennedy Center in July of 2023. In May 2019, Fettig and the Marine Band won an Emmy at the 62nd Annual New York Emmy Awards for a program entitled “New England Spirit.” Fettig also represented the Marine Corps at the White House when military bands were awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Trump in 2019.
Throughout his career, Fettig has been deeply committed to music education. With the Marine Band, he began an interactive Young People’s Concert series in 2006 and authored, hosted, and conducted this popular annual event until 2015. He has launched innovative new digital programs for world-wide audiences, including a video series entitled the Digital Rehearsal Hall, which provides viewers a behind-the-scenes view into the working rehearsal process of professional musicians. He has presented at the Midwest Clinic on multiple occasions and has served as adjudicator for major competitions, including the Thailand International Wind Symphony Competition and at the World Music Contest in Kerkrade, The Netherlands.
Fettig holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in both clarinet performance and music education, and a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2014, he was elected as a member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He serves on the board of directors for several national organizations and is the current President-Elect of The National Band Association.
Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center
For nearly the first fourteen years of its history, the Chicago Orchestra performed at the Auditorium Theatre (completed in 1889). Orchestra Hall—the long-standing dream of Theodore Thomas—was designed by CSO trustee and Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham and completed in 1904, at a cost of $750,000. The dedicatory concert, led by Thomas, was held on December 14 of that year.
Orchestra Hall has been host for a variety of performances and presentations since its dedication in 1904. During its first fifty years, Orchestra Hall was the regular home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as the Apollo Musical Club, the Mendelssohn Club of Chicago, the Chicago Business Men’s Symphony, the Commonwealth Edison Orchestra, and the Marshall Field Choral Society. Mayors Richard M. Daley, Jr. and Harold Washington both were inaugurated during ceremonies held at Orchestra Hall. In addition, the Hall has hosted countless lectures (including Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr.); movies; commencement ceremonies; billiards tournaments, religious services; suffrage and other political rallies; and visiting orchestras, choruses, and dance companies from all over the world.