Harry Gee

Born February 20, 1924 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Harry Gee received his first professional appointment at age 17 as principal clarinet of the Duluth (Minnesota) Symphony Orchestra. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied clarinet with Bernard Portnoy and Ralph McLane. In 1949 he went to Paris as a pupil of clarinetist Gaston Hamelin. In addition, Gee has received degrees from the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Denver. He was a member of orchestras in Denver, Houston, and Minneapolis. Gee was a member of the music faculty of Indiana State University from 1960 to 1992 and specialized in saxophone after study with Eugene Rousseau and Daniel Deffayet. He has been a guest professor at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, the British Woodwind Workshop, and the Single Reed Workshop at Towson State University. Gee also served on juries for conservatories in France, Belgium, and Quebec. One of the founding members of the World Saxophone Congress, he became the first Region 5 coordinator. At the 1974 Congress in Bordeaux, Gee was one of the American soloists and attended the first five international Congresses. He was the editor of “Clarinet and Saxophone Topics” for The School Musician from 1971 to 1979 and has written more than 100 articles and reviews published in the United States, England, France, and Australia. He has composed and arranged more than 140 works for saxophone, woodwinds, and band. Gee’s books Clarinet Solos de Concours, 1897-1980 and Saxophone Soloists and Their Music, 1844-1985 have been standard reference sources since their publication. Since his retirement, he has maintained an active schedule of private instruction for younger students and continues to compose and arrange woodwind solos and ensembles for leading national music publishers.