Gary Fry
E-mail Gary Fry
Composer, conductor, and music educator Gary Fry brings a broad base of experience and expertise to Midwest Young Artists. As music director of the acclaimed children’s vocal ensemble EagleSong from the Sunset Ridge School in Northfield, Mr. Fry has developed a high-quality program that has taken his young singers to some of the most prestigious venues in America, including the White House (three invitations), the United Nations, and choral festivals across the country.
Mr. Fry is a former faculty member of the University of Miami (Florida) and Northwestern University, where he conducted vocal ensembles and taught classes in music theory and composition. He is also much in demand as a clinician and adjudicator for high school and college choral festivals and competitions. His unique career as a composer spans both serious concert music and commercial music. He is equally at home composing for the renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra (over 35 commissions) or television advertisements for companies such as McDonald’s and Kellogg’s. One might hear Mr. Fry’s music performed by the Boston Pops, the Dallas Symphony, or the Colorado Symphony, or find it every day on the Cartoon Network program “Baby Looney Tunes.” Travelers hear his work in the pedestrian passageway at the O’Hare Airport United Airlines terminal and at exhibits in Sea World in Orlando. His recent settings of Shakespeare for the Chicago Symphony Singers and music for poetry by Carl Sandburg and Thomas Hornsby Ferril for the Colorado Children’s Chorale have received enthusiastic reviews.
Mr. Fry and his wife Carol have four children and live in Northfield, where they often open their home–including Mr. Fry’s professional recording studio–to the children of the community for music-making and recording projects.
