Hazelman, Herbert, 1913-2007

Herbert Hazelman (1913-2007) was an American band director, composer, and music educator. Hazelman is best known for his 40-year tenure as director of the Greensboro (Grimsley) North Carolina Senior High School Bands. He was responsible for numerous premiere performances of band music and made more than 150 recordings with school ensembles. He was elected to the American Bandmasters Association in 1951.

From the description of Herbert Hazelman collection, 1931-2001. (University of Maryland Libraries). WorldCat record id: 55081574

Herbert Hazelman is best known for his 42-year tenure as the director of the Greensboro (Grimsley) North Carolina Senior High School Bands (Greensboro Senior High School became Grimsley High School in 1963). In 1925, Greensboro schools' music supervisor, Glenn Gildersleeve, appointed the World War I Army Band clarinetist H. Grady Miller to organize an instrumental music program at Greensboro High School. Miller was elevated to music supervisor in 1926, the same year that Earl Slocum joined the faculty to create an orchestral program. The Great Depression forced the curtailment of the Greensboro music program in 1933, however, the band carried on informally under the direction of English teacher Edward Tannenbaum. In 1936 Herbert Hazelman was appointed as the sole instrumental music teaching force for the Greensboro schools. By 1963 the music faculty had grown to 12 full-time and 2 part-time instrumental music teachers, all under Hazelman's supervision.

In 1963, Hazelman listed a series of "firsts" achieved by the Greensboro (Grimsley) Senior High School Band. These included being the first band from North Carolina to appear at the Mid-West National Band Clinic in Chicago, the first use of the "twin-band" marching style in North Carolina, the first high school band to have a balanced clarinet choir, the first to have a regularly scheduled television broadcast series, and the first to perform for the Canadian Bandmasters Association.

During the years covered by the collection (1946-1978), several different Greensboro (Grimsley) Senior High School bands appear. By 1963 the names of these bands seems to have stabilized, with Hazelman directing the Symphony Band, and Edgar Q. Rooker conducting the Concert Band. By 1970 a Stage Band was added under the direction of Charles Murph and Kenneth Sampson (this was changed to the Jazz Ensemble or Jazz Band by 1975). Prior to 1963 we find references to a Training Band, an Activities Band, and a Concert "B" Band, all conducted by various members of the band staff. During these early years, Hazelman's ensemble is usually called the Concert Band. Most of the collection's recordings contain only the performances of Hazelman's ensembles.

Hazelman was responsible for a number of first performances, most notably of pieces by M. Thomas Cousins and John Barnes Chance. Chance was a Ford Foundation Young Composer at Greensboro between 1960 and 1962, while Cousins was associated with the school in 1959. In addition, the Greensboro Bands premiered Gunther Schuller's Meditation for Concert Band as well as several of Hazelman's own compositions and arrangements.

From the guide to the Herbert Hazelman Collection, 1931-2001, 1931-2001, (Special Collections in Performing Arts)