FRANKLIN, Pa. – Ed Frye has been named Franklin Fine Arts Council “Artist of the Year.”
The name Ed Frye has become a name synonymous with music in the Franklin area for many years.
From an early age, Eddie knew that one day he would grow up to be a music teacher. Born with an ear for music and a natural ability to hear what sounded good and what did not, he suffered through many excruciating solos in his early church days.
As he puts it, “They were a quarter tone flat, their intonation was horrible, and they missed the eighth rest for Pete’s sake.”
It was those early experiences listening to music that helped to direct his path to one day become a music man. He graduated from Norwin high school in 1957 where he participated in many musical organizations. He went on to continue his education at Mount Union College. After graduation he taught briefly at school districts in Edinboro and Cambridge Springs while earning his master’s degree at IUP before coming to Franklin in 1967.
After one year of working as an assistant under Harold Pixley, he took over as the FHS band director. His passion for music and ability to work with young people enabled him to have many premier bands along the way. He gave of himself through teaching private lessons, directing the marching band, stage bands, pep bands, pit bands, and co-directing the Musical Broadcast with Roland Davis for many years.
He taught with a passion to not only enable his students to become better musicians but also to become better people in their world. Many of his former students went on to pursue a career in both music performance and music education, while some of them simply took their instilled love for music and shared that passion to this day in venues such as town bands, churches, and in their own homes. He retired from teaching at Franklin in 1995.
In his time in Franklin, he also served as band master of the Franklin Silver Cornet band for many years as well as serving as guest conductor of numerous high school band festivals.
He served on the board of the Pennsylvania Music Education Association and many Friday and Saturday nights he could be found out playing his horns for the enjoyment of people at wedding receptions, dinner parties, and dances.
In 1989 Ed decided to take a walk from Georgia to Maine along the Appalachian Trail. During his six month adventure, he continued to make music by carrying his recorder and playing requests high atop many mountains for his fellow through hikers.
Photos from 2015 Franklin Silver Cornet Christmas Concert: