July 23, 2012

Dr. Myron Moss passed away suddenly on July 2nd. Mike was a master teacher and a talented orchestra and band director. Mike was a gentle, charming, kind man who touched the lives of many students and colleagues, and his loss will be felt by many in the Westphal College and beyond.

As a scholar, Mike was nationally known for his scholarship on African American composers, specifically related to band repertoire. Before coming to Drexel, Mike was Music Department Chair and Director of Bands at Southern Connecticut State University and he directed the athletic band at Quinnipiac University. He was an invited guest conductor at Yale, the Hartt School, and the University of Michigan, from where he received his doctorate. Mike conducted on the Keystone Winds’ CD “Out of the Depths,” devoted to works by black composers. His dissertation, Concert Band Music by African-American Composers, 1927–1998, won the Fritz Thelen Award for the best doctoral dissertation on a band music subject written between 1999 and 2005. His band orchestration of Gabriel Fauré’s Chant Funéraire was recorded by the University of North Texas on a 2006 GIA release and has been played by elite groups across the country. This past year, Mike organized the very wonderful Drexel Concert Band performance at the Kimmel Center that was part of our efforts to celebrate Black History Month. A memorial service for Dr. Moss is being planned for October 10th and details will be announced in the near future. Donations in Mike's honor can be made to the Music Program, payable to Drexel University, with "Dr. Moss Music Program" on the memo line, and mailed to the Office of Institutional Advancement, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia 19104.