Frederick Tillis
*Frederick Tillis was born on this date in 1930. He was a Black composer, jazz saxophonist, poet, and collegiate music educator.
Born in Galveston, Texas, Frederick Charles Tillis was raised by his mother, Zelma Bernice Gardner Tillis, his stepfather, General Gardner, and his maternal grandparents, Willie Tillis and Jessie Tillis-Hubbard. His mother played piano and sang to him as a child. Later, at George Washington Carver Elementary School, Tillis decided to join the school's drum and bugle corps. As he became more proficient in trumpet, Tillis found his first professional job as a musician in jazz bands when he was twelve years old, earning him the nickname "Baby Tillis." Tillis' band director at Central Side High School, Fleming S. Huff, suggested he start playing the saxophone.
Post-secondary education
In 1946, Tillis was accepted at Wiley College on a music scholarship and graduated from Wiley in 1949 with a B.A. in music, accepting the position of college band director there. He also married fellow Wiley music major Edna Louise Dillon at this time. They moved from Texas in 1951 so Tillis could attend the University of Iowa for graduate music studies. At this time, he also volunteered in the United States Air Force during the Korean War and was director of the 356th Air Force Band. He later returned to get his PhD at the University of North Texas College of Music, returning to the University of Iowa to finish his doctoral studies—a career as an educator and composer.
After completing his PhD in 1963, Tillis held several academic positions at Wiley College, Grambling College, and Kentucky State University. In 1970, Randolph Bromery recruited Tillis to the University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty, and he and his family moved to Massachusetts. Tillis wrote music since the age of twenty and was influenced by Schoenberg, Bach, Prokofiev, Mussorgsky, African American composers, and world music.
Some of Tillis' more notable compositions include A Symphony of Songs, a choral/orchestral work based on poems by Wallace Stevens and commissioned by The Hartford Chorale, Inc. (1999); A Festival Journey (1992), and Ring Shout Concerto (1974), for percussion, written for Max Roach; and Concerto for Piano (Jazz Trio) and symphony orchestra (1983) written for Billy Taylor. Tillis also wrote several poetry books, including The Jazz Theory and the Improvisation textbook. He retired in 1997.
During his retirement, Dr. Tillis remained a composer, poet, touring performer, lecturer, and arts advocate. He was director emeritus of the Fine Arts Center and professor emeritus at the UMass Amherst Music Department and Jazz in July program well into the mid-2000s. In later life, Tillis suffered from dementia and had multiple people who would care for him in his old age in the surrounding Western Massachusetts community. He died on May 3, 2020.
