Ernest R. Kroeger

Ernest R. Kroeger (August 10, 1862 – April 7, 1934) was an American composer. He is mainly known for the pedagogical works he composed for piano; he also taught music in St. Louis, Missouri. Today his papers are held at the Missouri Historical Society.

Early life

Ernest Richard Kroeger was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His father, Egmont Froehlich, taught him piano. He also learned instrumentation, violin, and harmony under various other teachers.

Middle Age

When Kroeger was 42, he was appointed the Master of Programs of the Bureau of Music for the St. Louis World Fair. There, he arranged for choral, brass, and band concerts as well as competitions for them as well. Because so many people enjoyed the concerts he put together at the World Fair, the French Academy elected him an Officer. Other institutes he joined were the National Institute of Arts of Letters, and the American Guild of Organists, which he also helped found.

The same year that he was the Master of Programs for the St. Louis World Fair he became the Director of the Kroeger School of Music, and kept that position until he died. In 1915, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters (then the National Institute of Arts and Letters). In 1925, he became Director of the Washington University Music Department until 1934, the year of his death. He was also the Director of the Music Department for Forest Park College.

Legacy

Kroeger's compositions were played all around the United States and Europe during the first couple decades of the 19th century. After Kroeger died in 1934, his daughter, Louise Kroeger, succeeded her father in becoming the Director of the Kroeger School of Music until her retirement in 1975, when she was 84.

References

• Howard, John Tasker (1939). Our American Music: Three Hundred Years of It. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |origmonth=, |month=, |chapterurl=, |origdate=, and |coauthors= (help)

Citations

• Washington University Libraries

External links

• Free scores by Ernest R. Kroeger at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)