Frank L. Battisti

Frank L. Battisti is Conductor Emeritus of the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble. He founded and conducted the ensemble for 30 years (1969-99). Today the NEC Wind Ensemble is recognized as one of the premiere ensembles of its kind in the United States and throughout the world. It’s performances and recordings for Centaur, Albany and Golden Crest records have earned high critical praise and accolades. Performances by the NEC Wind Ensemble have been broadcast over National Public Radio (NPR) and other classical music radio stations throughout the United States and world. Battisti was Principal Guest Conductor of the Longy School of Music Chamber Winds, Cambridge, MA from 2000 – 2008 and founder and Music Director of the Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artists Wind Ensemble from 2000 - 2004.  In 2005 he became the ensemble’s Conductor Emeritus.

Dr.Battisti is responsible for commissioning and premiering over 60 works for wind ensemble by distinguished American and world composers including Warren Benson, Leslie Bassett, Robert Ceely, John Harbison, Robin Holloway, Witold Lutoslawski, William Thomas McKinley, Vincent Persichetti, Michael Colgrass, Daniel Pinkham, Gunther Schuller, Robert Selig, Ivan Tcheripnin, Sir Michael Tippett, William Kraft, Robert Ward and Alec Wilder. Critics, composers and colleagues have praised Battisti for his commitment to contemporary music and his outstanding performances.

Battisti has conducted numerous university, college, military, professional and high school bands/wind ensembles and served as a visiting teacher/clinician throughout the United States, England, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Scandinavia, Australia, China, Taiwan, Canada, South America, South Korea, Iceland and the former U.S.S.R.

Past President of the U.S. College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), Battisti is also a member of the American Bandmasters Association (ABA) and founder of the National Wind Ensemble Conference, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble (MYWE) and New England College Band Association (NECBA). He has served on the Standard Award Panel of American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts Recognition and Talent Search Panel (ARTS).

Considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on wind music literature, Battisti has written many articles on wind ensemble/band literature, conducting and music education for national and international professional journals and magazines (The Instrumentalist, WASBE Journal, WINDS, MENC Music Journal, etc.). He is the author of The 20th Century American Wind Band/Ensemble (1995), The Winds of Change (2002), On Becoming a Conductor (2007), The Best We Can Be (2010), The Winds of Change II (2012) and co-author of Score Study for the Wind Band.