Searl Pickett Classical Chamber Music Series

Searl Pickett Classical Chamber Music Series The Searl Pickett Series was permanently discontinued in Fall, 2019. Mary's Springs band director Searl Pickett. As band director at St.

The Series presented classical concerts by outstanding regional artists each year to honor the memory of St. The Searl Pickett Chamber Music Series was founded by Fond du Lac native Kay Gainacopulos as a tribute to, and in memory of one of Wisconsin’s finest band directors and teachers, Searl Pickett. A legend in his own time, Searl Pickett learned to play the clarinet in his hometown of Wautoma W

I, where his talent led him to study with the top clarinetist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Pickett’s music career was interrupted by World War II, in which he flew many successful missions as a B17 pilot before being shot down with multiple injuries including flak in his jaw. After more than a year in a German “Stalag” (concentration camp), he returned to New York City as a free-lance musician, doubling on clarinet, alto saxophone and flute with some of the big bands operating at that time. His injuries forced him to cut short his performing career, and he returned to the Fox Valley to study music at Lawrence College on the GI Bill. Mary’s Springs Academy in Fond du Lac, he built an excellent band program that continued to thrive until his death in the early 1980’s. While teaching at “the Springs” he also taught clarinet students at several area colleges and was clarinet specialist at the UW-Madison Music Clinics in the 1950’s. Searl inspired and challenged generations of musicians who came under his influence. Many of them are still teaching and performing as his legacy is passed to future generations.

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363 S Main Street
Fond Du Lac, WI
54935

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The Searl Pickett Chamber Music Series was founded by Fond du Lac native Kay Gainacopulos as a tribute to, and in memory of one of Wisconsin’s finest band directors and teachers, Searl Pickett. A legend in his own time, Searl Pickett learned to play the clarinet in his hometown of Wautoma WI, where his talent led him to study with the top clarinetist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Pickett’s music career was interrupted by World War II, in which he flew many successful missions as a B17 pilot before being shot down with multiple injuries including flak in his jaw. After more than a year in a German “Stalag” (concentration camp), he returned to New York City as a free-lance musician, doubling on clarinet, alto saxophone and flute with some of the big bands operating at that time. His injuries forced him to cut short his performing career, and he returned to the Fox Valley to study music at Lawrence College on the GI Bill. As band director at St. Mary’s Springs Academy in Fond du Lac, he built an excellent band program that continued to thrive until his death in the early 1980’s. While teaching at “the Springs” he also taught clarinet students at several area colleges and was clarinet specialist at the UW-Madison Music Clinics in the 1950’s. Searl inspired and challenged generations of musicians who came under his influence. Many of them are still teaching and performing as his legacy is passed to future generations.