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Walton County, Georgia, September 8, 2009 -- University of Georgia music professor and renowned trumpet player Fred Mills was killed Monday in a wreck east of Atlanta.
Mills, who was 70, died after a crash in Walton County, according to the Georgia State Patrol. Details surrounding the wreck have not been released.
Born in Guelph, Canada, Mills was a founding member of The Canadian Brass, making over 40 recordings on several record labels and performing with the famed brass quintet at over 3,500 concerts in Asia, Europe and North America.
Mills joined the UGA faculty in 1996. In addition to teaching trumpet, he coached a graduate brass quintet, The Bulldog Brass Society.
According to a biography of Mills on The Canadian Brass Web site, Mills was for six years the principal trumpet with the New York City Opera.
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Fred Mills and Star United's Rachel Rodriquez in 1995 just outside Lincoln Center prior to a performance of Brass Theater. |
Mills was also a former member of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the American Symphony Orchestra in New York.
“The trumpet world has truly lost a legend,” said Ray Vasquez, assistant professor of trumpet at Auburn University. Vasquez called Mills “an inspiration to us all.”
Mills performed this past weekend at the Pentabrass International Brass Festival in Quincinetto, Italy.