Frank Connell

Connell, Frank

Frank (Joseph) Connell. Bandmaster, trumpeter, b Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland, 24 Jun 1920, d Edmonton 19 Jan 1979. A graduate of the RMSM (Kneller Hall), he was a soloist with the BBC Scottish Orchestra, royal trumpeter at the Edinburgh Festival, and director 1948-58 of a Royal Artillery Band. He moved to Canada in 1958. The Moose Jaw Lions Junior Bands, which he directed 1958-73, came to be regarded as models of their kind during his tenure. With them he made two recordings (Lumby Productions 1965, 1967), one of which (LP 1135) contains a performance of his own Tri-State Festival March. He also composed a Scottish Folk Rhapsody. He founded and directed 1962-72 the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts at Fort San, and was director of the Red Deer Community Band Association.