Hemke, Frederick (LeRoy)

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Hemke, Frederick (LeRoy)

Hemke, Frederick (LeRoy), American saxophonist and teacher; b. Milwaukee, July 11, 1935. He studied at the Univ. of Wise. (1953–55), then with Marcel Mule at the Paris Cons., becoming the first American to win a premier prix for saxophone (1956). He then continued his studies with Joseph Mariano and Robert Sprenkle at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y, and at the Univ. of Wise. (D.M.A., 1975). He taught at Northwestern Univ. (from 1962), serving as chairman of the dept. of wind and percussion instruments (from 1964); was also a member of the Chicago Sym. Orch. (1962–82). He publ. The Early History of the Saxophone (1975) and The Teacher’s Guide to the Saxophone (1977). He commissioned Pettersson’s Sym. No. 16 for Alto Saxophone and Orch., and played in its premiere (Stockholm, Feb. 24, 1983).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire