NEDDERMEYER’s BAND CONCERT

PRESENTED BY THE OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION
CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF OHIO VILLAGE

SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2024
OHIO VILLAGE, 800 EAST 17TH AVENUE, COLUMBUS, OH

American Musical Productions presents Neddermeyer’s Band Concert, an authentic “living history” concert recreating the music of  Frederick L. Neddermeyer, the “John Phillip Sousa” of Columbus. Neddermeyer was the area’s leading bandmaster, composer and musician from the 1890s until his passing in 1924. Joseph N. Rubin directs a 20-piece concert band of Central Ohio’s finest musicians. Culled from historic Neddermeyer Band programs, the two 45-minute concerts feature beloved light classics including rousing marches by John Philip Sousa, thrilling overtures by Franz von Suppe, Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera selections, beguiling waltzes by Johann Strauss and much more. Neddermeyer’s Band Concert will pay long overdue tribute to this forgotten local musical giant and feature three of Neddermeyer’s marches, unheard for over a century.

FREDERICK L. NEDDERMEYER (1866-1924) was Columbus’ leading bandmaster, musician and composer.  A Columbus native, he began his musical training as a viola apprentice with Professor John Bayer. In 1883, young Neddermeyer went to Germany and studied violin at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig. He returned to Columbus in 1889 to become conductor of the Metropolitan Theatre orchestra. He founded his own band in 1895 and played annual engagements at Olentangy Park (a popular local amusement park). The band also performed at various city parks, department stores and the 1910 Columbus Exposition (at State Fairgrounds adjoining Ohio Village).  One of the most notable contributes Neddermeyer made to music in Columbus was the series of “pop” concerts played by his 50-piece band in Memorial Hall. Three decades before first professional symphony orchestra was founded in Columbus, the Memorial Hall concerts were considered by Neddermeyer as “the first real effort to turn the musical thoughts of Columbus from ragtime to classical music, and it proved successful.”

Neddermeyer organized the Columbus Dispatch Newsboys Band, educated over 200 local young musicians. He moved to Detroit in 1912 to conduct at the Broadway Theatre. He was enticed back to his native Columbus as conductor of the 30-piece orchestra at the opulent James Theatre in 1921. Neddermeyer reformed his band for summer concerts at the time, but his life was cut short by illness and he passed at the age of 58 on August 9, 1924.  This concert commemorates the 100th anniversary of his passing.  Some young Ohio native musicians had interactions with Neddermeyer on their road to fame.  Circleville, Ohio native jazz clarinetist and entertainer Ted Lewis skipped classes at Bliss Business College to perform whistling solos with Neddermeyer’s Band. Paintersville, Ohio native Karl King played euphonium with Neddermeyer’s band at the 1910 Columbus Exposition and later became a leading march composer and bandmaster. King dedicated his “Neddermeyer’s Triumphal March” published in 1911 “to my friend Fred Neddermeyer.” 

A historical survey of all Neddermeyer Band programs published in the ColumbusDispatch1895-1922 was undertaken in preparation for this concert yielding a total of 389 separate pieces in the band’s library. The selections in this concert represent some of the most often programmed music by Neddermeyer, all published prior to 1898.