Frank Bencriscutto
| Frank Bencriscutto | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Frank Peter Anthony Bencriscutto |
| Born |
September 21, 1928 Racine, Wisconsin, United States |
| Died | August 28, 1997 (aged 68) Roseville, Minnesota, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Conductor, saxophonist, composer |
Frank Bencriscutto (September 21, 1928 – August 28, 1997), nicknamed "Dr. Ben," was an American conductor and composer of concert band music. Bencriscutto was Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota for thirty-two years.
Born to Italian immigrant parents in Racine, Wisconsin, Bencriscutto was the ninth of ten children. In 1951, he married Jean Wisner Fischer. The couple had three children.
Bencriscutto earned Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. At Eastman, he studied composition with Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers and played principal alto saxophone in the Eastman Wind Ensemble under Frederick Fennell.
Bencriscutto's work as a conductor at the University of Minnesota (1960-1993) led to many honors for his ensembles. As director of the University of Minnesota Marching Band, Bencriscutto instituted the Indoor Marching Band Concert at Northrop Auditorium, an annual tradition that has since been copied by university marching bands nationwide. Many marching band traditions instituted by Bencriscutto continue to this day, including the band's football pre-game "swinging gates" formation performed during Dr. Ben's arrangement of "Battle Hymn of the Republic." This tradition has been ongoing since it debuted in 1961.
In 1969, the conductor led the University of Minnesota Wind Orchestra on a landmark 7-week, 10-city, 27-concert cultural exchange tour in the Soviet Union while Bolshoi Ballet toured the United States. The tour culminated with a presidential command performance in the Rose Garden of the White House and resulted in Dr. Bencriscutto being invited by Dmitri Shostakovich and the Ministry of Culture to be an honored guest of the Soviet Union the following year at the 1970 International Tschaikovsky Competition.
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