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God bless you, Fred. I had the distinct pleasure to play tuba and euphonium in his brass group at UGA for three years. I learned more about playing chamber music from him than from anywhere else. Most of all though, I always had a great time with him, whether it was rehearsal, gig, or just lunch. The entire music world has lost a true giant this evening.

Inspirational player, great teacher. He will be missed.

A sad day indeed. Fred as a part of the Canadian Brass helped to shape an entire genre of music. He will be missed. This came to me from the Canadian Brass for your information:


Subject: Fred Mills

"The members, past and present, of Canadian Brass are sad to inform our friends that Fred Mills died tonight. He was a longtime friend and colleague who has left an indelible mark on the music world. Fred lofted the piccolo trumpet into an indispensable role in the brass quintet, brought a new level of musical quality to the brass quintet repertoire through his arrangements, many of which are now considered absolute standard repertoire and spent over fifty years helping establish the trumpet as a beautiful, lyrical voice amongst solo orchestral instruments. But even more memorable for all us, he inspired thousands upon thousands of young musicians around the world to explore their own musical talents, tastes, interests and love of performance......and then encouraged them to enliven the world around them. Freddy's influence in the musical world is incalculable--his love of life, whacky sense of humour, deep knowledge of music, amazing memory for events, wide range of friends, will be truly missed by everyone with whom he came in contact. He was a Canadian national treasure."

Sad, sad news! RIP, Fred Mills.

This is very sad, I had seen him live numerous times with the Canadian Brass since the early 80's. As much as I like Chuck and admire him as the quintessential quintet tubist, to my ears Fred and Ronnie were the backbone of the CB. The group was just never the same to me after they moved on.
His legacy in recordings, videos, and teaching will live on.

For many of my generation Fred Mills showed us how it was done through countless recordings and arrangements. He was the quiet man of the horn who did nothing more than lay down flawless interpretations of classics. He was the standard we could all refer to when shaping chamber playing.

Fred Mills was a young brass player's favorite uncle. A mentor through recordings and an example of achievement to strive towards.

I never met him personally, but he is as much a part of my playing as thousands of others worldwide.

Our small world of brass playing is a much better place because he picked up the horn.

Last night, my colleague at UGA Fred Mills died from injuries sustained in a single car accident. It is a very sad day for all of us who knew and loved Fred.

Fred was an extraordinary musician who lived, breathed, and slept music. His playing was an inspiration to me when I was learning to love music as a teenager and his continuous dedication to the craft was even more inspiring. It was a pleasure to listen to him play from across the hall, as his playing always said something really, really interesting.

Fred remained incredibly active as a performer, and was, in fact , returning home from the airport after a week of playing and teaching in Italy when the accident occurred. At the age of 74, his energy was irrepressible. I am happy for Fred that he never had to stop, or even slow down for that matter. He went out doing what he loved, which is the best that any of us could hope for.

I will miss Fred, as I know many of you will. He was a fascinating character and a good man.

Plans are underway for a memorial service in Athens. As soon as these plans become more concrete, I will post the details.

This is very sad news. He was a great professional. I never had the opportunity to meet him or hear him play live. By the time I got around to seeing the Canadian Brass in high school, Fred Mills had already retired from the group. One of my first classical cd's was by the Canadian Brass, and it was this cd that made me interested in pursuing a career in music. Hopefully his performances and recordings will continue to inspire musicians like they did for me.

I met Fred just once in 1998 or so at the Mendez brass institute at CCM. He heard a friend and I playing the first Wilder Suite for Horn, Tuba and Piano. After we came to a rest he told us a story about how the piece had been read at his apartment in NYC. He had gotten a phone call from Harvey (I think) saying that they wanted to read the piece for the first time, but needed his piano. In a few minutes he had Harvey, Alec Wilder, John Barrows and the piano player in his apartment. So he got to see how the piece evolved from the manuscript, to the performers suggestions and the corrections.
I thought this was a great story, so when I decided to use these pieces as part of my DMA research in 2006, I contacted Fred. Not only did he remember our brief encounter almost 10 years prior, he said he would put the account in writing for me to use as part of my paper, which I got the next day.

Fred was a great musician and a true gentleman. He will be missed by many people.

jon

I played with Fred twice this year, once with orchestra and then with orchestra brass and he and the Bulldog Brass Society, which was all his idea. When he played with the orchestra, after we had finished, he came straight back to where I was and said, "You are a damn good tuba player...", then he just hung around and we just talked about whatever came up. What he said to me is the biggest compliment that I have ever received and I will always remember it.

There will be a service celebrating the life of Fred Mills at 3:00 PM on Sunday, September 20, 2009. The service will take place in Hodgson Hall of the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center.

The event will feature music and stories, the two things that defined Fred's life. It was Fred's stated desire that his memorial service remain upbeat and festive. I hope that you will be able to join us to help celebrate the very full and rich life of our friend and colleague.

Questions can be directed to me at dzerkel@uga.edu" target="_blank" target="_blank or at 706.542.2725