Fred Broer
B i o g r a p h y
A native Oregonian, I was born in Salem, Oregon in 1942 and lived in the small town of Grants Pass in that state through the age of eighteen. My full name, Frederick Edward Broer III, consists of the initials FEB, which can be expressed as a musical motive of three pitches F-E-B that I use in many of my composition as an embedded musical signature.
Professional education and employment::
Wheaton College, Bachelor of Music in Piano Performancee ; 1964. composition studies with Jack Goode.
Indiana University, Master of Music in musicology. 1967, composition studies with Bernard Heiden and Juan Orego Salas.
Boston University, Doctor of Music in music composition; 1986, composition study with Joyce McKeel.
Findlay College, (Ohio) music faculty member, 1969-71
Gordon College (MA) music faculty member, 1971-89
Endicott College (MA) Director of community music school, North Shore Conservatory of Music. 1990-95
Life Long Learning program, University of Massachusetts, (Boston), Instructor, 2000-2005
Currently retired from teaching.
A partial list of my compositions from 1995 to the present:
CHAMBER MUSIC
Two Trios for Violin, Cello and Piano
Two Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Sonata for Viola and Piano
Trio for Viola, Clarinet and Piano
Eight String Quartets
Wind Quartet for Flute, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Bass Clar.
Quartet for Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano
Jitterbug, for Flute, Oboe, Bassoon and Piano
PIANO MUSIC
Nine Piano Sonatas
13 individual single movement pieces for piano
Four Excursions for Piano (Suite)
A Little Pop Music, Suite for Piano
Seven Piano Preludes
Two Intermezzos (piano solo)
Fantasy Ballade No. 1 & No. 2
Two Concertos for Piano and Orchestra
VOCAL MUSIC
Six Songs for Voice and Piano
Four Sacred Songs for Soprano and Piano
CHORAL MUSIC
Psalm for Chorus and Concert Band
Two SATB Choral Anthems with Organ
ORCHESTRA MUSIC
Symphony for String Orchestra (in 3 movements)
Three Essays for Orchestra (13 min. each)
Videre in Somnis, Orchestral Poem (15 min. duration)
Serenade for String Orchestra
OPERA
"The Really Great (and Wonderful) All-American Opera"
for vocal soloists, chorus, and electronic music
MISCELLANEOUS
Nine Fugues on the motive FEB for various instruments
Sonic Wandering, six pieces of electronic music
Music Video No. 1 (animated digital art & electronic music)
Music Video No. 2 (animated digital art & electronic music)
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My paternal and maternal ancestors were talented musicians and had interesting involvements in music,
I acknowledge them here:
Everyone in my father's family (Broer) studied and played music instruments. By 1938, when he and his three siblings were teenagers, the family performed music solo and ensemble pieces on a weekly radio program on a local radio station (KSLM) that continued for two years in Salem, Oregon. The ensemble included my fathers' siblings on trombone, flute, violin, and parents on euphonium and piano as seen in the photo.
My mother's grandfather (Scott Clark) formed a traveling tent show company in southern Illinois around 1885 that featured musicians and actors performing theatrical shows and music concerts. The Clark Tent Show traveled with horses and wagons from town to town during the summer months presenting programs over a period of seventeen years. The 1898 photo here shows some of the troupe’s company members standing before the tent. My grandfather is the nine year old boy on the left with a euphonium horn. His father is with the snare drum on the right.


The Broer family, 1938

The Clark family and troupe members, 1898