Frank William Erickson

Frank William Erickson (September 1, 1923 – October 21, 1996) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, writer, and trumpet player. Growing up The son of Frank O.. Myrtle Erickson, Frank Erickson was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. He began his instrumental career at the age of eight, playing piano, and at age ten, playing trumpet. In high school, he wrote his first composition for the band, The Fall of Evening. ; World War II World War II began when Erickson was 16. He served with the United States Army Air Forces from 1942 to 1946, working as a weather forecaster and arranging music for several army bands. ; Post World War II After the war, Erickson worked as a jazz arranger, namely for Earle Spencer and His Orchestra (1946); and he played trumpet. He also studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco during this time period. As he wrote the music and studied composition, Frank Erickson developed an interest in getting a degree and eventually enrolled at University of Southern California to further his studies in composition. While there, he began arranging half-time shows for the USC marching band. By the time he graduated, he had many published band compositio