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Just got this in the email today....sad news....
-Christian


Sad news from Clark McAlister, a friend (and former student) of Dr. Reed's:

Alfred Reed passed away yesterday afternoon, 17 September. His gift to
the world is a body of music that will continue to thrill, charm and
delight audiences in virtually every country of the world, as it has
done for the last fifty years. His gift to those of us blessed to have
known him was a kind and generous spirit that is all too rare.
I cannot begin to reach everyone who has known and loved Dr. Reed
and his music. May I therefore ask those of you receiving this email to
forward it to those known to you who would want to be made aware of this
most sad event.
Memorial arrangements are pending. Please understand and respect
the family's need for quiet time and privacy by withholding all
telephone communications with them until at least Monday, 19 September.
Thank you

Clark McAlister

I have enjoyed playing Alfred Reed's music for many, many years. I had the good fortune of introducing him at a banquet while I was in college. He came to our campus as a special guest. I even performed Festival Prelude in our orchestra, with Dr. Reed conducting. He was a very personable man. It is sad to hear of his passing.

We were talking about Alfred Reed a few weeks ago, on the way to one of our summer concerts. One of his pieces was slated for the following weeks' concert, and Cameron Gates and I started rattling off the names of all the Alfred Reed stuff we'd played. It's amazing how many of the melodies we remembered. Kind of spooked the director that we were so astute with our Alfred Reed repertoire, but we grew up playing this stuff, and we're still playing it because it works.

Like we say in the band: "A name you know and trust."