He was a trumpeter born in Guelph, Canada, who began his musical education with a cornet that had been bought from a traveling salesman and went on from there to study at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.
After his studies he performed with many orchestras including the American Symphony Orchestra, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, Symphony of the Air and the New York City Opera orchestra.
He joined the quintet Canadian Brass in 1972 and stayed with them for 24 years before joining the Georgia School of Music brass faculty in 1996.
He continued performing, arranging and conducting student ensembles and coached the quintet The Bulldog Brass Society.
He was killed in a car accident in Walton County, Georgia, in 2009 when he was 74 years old and later the CD To Fred With Love, The World’s Finest Brass Players Pay Tribute to Fred Mills was released with 100% of the profits going to the Fred Mills Scholarship fund at the University of Georgia, Athens.
Canadian Brass recordings
O Holy Night (Adolphe Charles Adam)
RCA 0 7863 54132 2 (CD – Christmas with the Canadian Brass)
Organist – John Grady, St. Patrick’s Cathedral Organ
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