George C. Wilson papers
Collection
0022-SCPA
George C. Wilson (b. 1908 - d. 2001) was a music educator, band director, Director and Vice-President of the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan. In 1948, he was elected a member of American Bandmasters Association (ABA), where he served on the board of Directors (1963, 1966), as vice-president (1964), and president (1965), and in 1998 was elected as an honorary life member. The George C. Wilson papers include materials relating to Wilson’s tenure as the director at Interlochen, including correspondence, programs, calendars, and newspaper clippings from National Music Camp; correspondence and programs relating to appearances as guest conductor and adjudicator in the United States and abroad; and newspapers, correspondence, and other ephemera regarding the creation, at the invitation of Imelda Marcos, of the Philippine National Arts Center in Manila in 1976. Also included in this collection are correspondence, programs, etc. regarding Wilson’s career as a conductor prior to becoming director of Interlochen.
There are no restricted files in this collection.
Materials from this collection must be used in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library's Irving and Margery Morgan Lowens Special Collections Room, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Contact the curator for an appointment: http://www.lib.umd.edu/scpa/contact
0.50 Linear Feet
The George C. Wilson papers cover the period from 1936 to 1982. The papers include materials relating to Wilson’s tenure as the director at Interlochen, including correspondence, programs, calendars, and newspaper clippings from National Music Camp; correspondence and other materials relating to his membership and tenure as President of the American Bandmasters Association; correspondence and programs relating to appearances as guest conductor and adjudicator in the United States and abroad; and newspapers, correspondence, and other ephemera regarding the creation, at the invitation of Imelda Marcos, of the Philippine National Arts Center in Manila in 1976. Additional professional papers of Dr. Wilson are held by the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan. These papers are from the Interlochen Center for the Arts records and refer to Dr. Wilson’s tenure as director of the National Music Camp.
Dr. George C. Wilson (1908-2001) was known as a music educator and conductor. He graduated from the University of Illinois and earned a master's degree from Columbia University. Dr. Wilson began his career as a conductor at Kansas State Teachers College and went on to conduct the band and orchestra at University of Arizona. He spent ten years as the director of bands at the University of Missouri, from 1946 until 1956. Elected to the American Bandmasters Association (ABA) in 1948, he was elected president in 1965 and was later named as an honorary life member in 1998. Dr. Wilson helped organize the 1966 conference of the International Society for Music Education, the first to be held in the United States, at Interlochen, Michigan.
Dr. Wilson dedicated much of his life to the National Music Camp, later known as the Interlochen Arts Camp. In 1950, he was elected vice-president and director of the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan and starting in 1958, served as a full-time faculty member at the National Arts Academy. He later served as interim president from 1970 to 1971 of the Interlochen Center for the Arts. In 1973 he assisted Imelda Marcos with the development and planning of the Philippine Center of the Arts, which would later open in 1976. George Wilson died on February 2,4 2001 in St. Louis, Missouri.
This collection has been divided into six series.
First part of collection gifted to the University of Maryland by George C. Wilson in December 1985.
Processing supported by the Rose Marie Grentzer Fund.
Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library