Dr. Donald E. McGinnis (1917-2016). Clarinetist, Conductor, Flutist, Professor, Naval Officer, College Administrator, Sports Fan, Composer, Mentor, Studio Teacher, Inspiration to the Profession...
... all these words describe a man who lived a very full life: one which ended just one week after his 99th birthday. Preceded in death only four months earlier by his life-long companion and loving wife Ruth, Don passed away peacefully on October 28, 2016 in his home in Hilliard, Ohio.
Don McGinnis, Professor Emeritus and Director of Bands Emeritus at The Ohio State University School of Music, was an avid fan of collegiate sports throughout his life - he even played guard his senior year on the varsity football team! - but his love of sports was eclipsed by his lifelong devotion to music. With BM and BME degrees from Oberlin College (clarinet performance and music education), he embarked on a career that would come to inspire thousands of musicians who would follow.
After a year as Oberlin High School's band director, Don was hired by Eugene Weigel to teach all of the woodwind students, assist with both Concert and Marching Bands, and conduct the regimental bands at Ohio State. The year was 1941 and after winning the Principal Clarinetist chair in the Columbus Philharmonic, his near 40-year career at Ohio State was interrupted by his enlistment in the United States Navy, in the South Pacific. Because he was originally commissioned to be principal clarinetist and featured soloist in the highly regarded Pre-Flight School Band that was stationed in Iowa City, his three-year stint in the U.S. Navy also provided him an opportunity to begin his pursuit of advanced degrees at the University of Iowa, receiving an MA and later, a 1953 PhD in music theory and composition. His "Symphony for Band" was written as his dissertation and was eventually published in the Hal Leonard catalogue.
In 1946, Don married Ruth and returned to Ohio State as a full-time professor of flute, clarinet and associate conductor of the OSU Concert Band, sharing the podium with Manley Whitcomb. When "Whit" left for Florida State University in 1953, Weigel appointed Jack Evans director of the Marching Band and Don McGinnis director of the Concert Band, resulting in the enrichment of the band program's numerous traditions and establishing the standards of excellence for many years to come. Under his leadership, the Concert Band earned national and international recognition with performances in illustrious venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, making widely-acclaimed recordings, enabling commissions for new works, and earning awards as an ensemble of the highest caliber. Many of Don's clarinet and flute students, including Richard Stoltzman, Howard Klug and Ohio State faculty Katherine Borst Jones and Caroline Hartig to name a few, went on to enjoy wonderfully influential professional careers of their own.
The band profession-at-large held Don in their highest regard as well, resulting in his being elected into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association in 1956, elected president in 1976, later named ABA Honorary Life Member and Honorary Life President, receiving a resolution from the Ohio House of Representatives for "Outstanding Contributions in Teaching, Performance, and Leadership" in 1977, Honorary Life Memberships in TBDBITL (The Best Damn Band in the Land) and The Ohio State University Alumni Band in 1977, and the coveted Medal of Honor at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in 1988. It would be impossible to contextualize the contributions of this incredible artist/teacher without using words such as profound, timeless, far-reaching, influential, inspirational, and eternal.
-Richard Blatti, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University School of Music
