John Edmondson composer / arranger

John Edmondson is known throughout the world for his more than 600 publications in the field of band and educational music. His contributions to the literature are accessible, enjoyable to perform and exciting to hear. Perhaps most importantly, his music has helped train the young musicians of today.

In addition to his achievements in educational music, he has written several hundred arrangements and compositions for various professional, military, college, and high school groups in the areas of marching band, concert band, jazz band, dance combos, and choral, as well as commercial television and radio jingles. This varied writing experience has brought a unique perspective to his educational writing.

A graduate of Sarasota (Florida) High School (1949), he received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida in 1955, majoring in music theory, with minors in English and sociology. After a two-year stint with the U.S. Army 8th and 9th Division Bands, he received his Master of Music in composition from the University of Kentucky in 1960, where he studied composition with Kenneth Wright and band scoring with R. Bernard Fitzgerald. He was the first recipient of the graduate degree from the university.

He taught public school music for 10 years in the Central Kentucky area, where he wrote extensively for his own students. During this same time, he free lanced as a writer for various university and high school marching bands, including seven years as Staff Arranger for the University of Kentucky Wildcat Marching Band. In addition to free lance composing and arranging, he was a professional trumpet player and pianist and developed his own educational publishing firm.

Following his teaching career, he was appointed Alfred Reed's successor as Educational Editor with Hansen Publications in Miami Beach, Florida, and remained in that position ten years. He was responsible for hundreds of publications, including works for concert band, marching band, the Fun-Way Band Method (co-authored with Paul Yoder), instrumental solo books and other instructional materials. From there he went to Wisconsin as Director of Concert Band Publications for Jenson Publications, adding several new works to his growing catalog.

John and his wife, Anne McGinty, moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1980. As free lance band composer/arrangers over a seven year period, they contributed over three hundred works to the catalogs of fifteen different publishers. In 1986 they founded their own company, Queenwood Publications, which is recognized worldwide as one of the leading publishers of quality educational music for school bands.

John Edmondson was honored in 1991 as the recipient of the University of Florida, Department of Fine Arts, Music Department Alumni

Achievement Award. He is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and is listed in the International Who's Who of Music.

His interests include the study of philosophy and politico-economic theory.