Foremost conductors read new wind music with the NEC Wind Ensemble. Representatives of major publishers from the U.S. and U.K. actively participate in symposium events and share from their catalogs. The symposium is a tribute to Frank L. Battisti, NEC's wind ensemble director emeritus and one of the world's most respected champions of music for winds. Reynish hails from the Royal Northern College of Music, one of NEC's exchange schools in the United Kingdom. Hunsberger is the long-time director of the Eastman School of Music's wind ensemble program.
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Almost thirty years ago, Frank L. Battisti called together the leaders of the wind ensemble movement in America for a conference at New England Conservatory. A period of unprecedented creativity followed this gathering of luminaries of the wind band world including Frederick Fennell, Donald Hunsberger, H. Robert Reynolds, and David Whitwell, fixing upon the musical scene the idea that wind music would now develop its own artistic identity. New England Conservatory presents more than 600 free concerts each year in NEC's Jordan Hall and throughout New England. The college program instructs more than 750 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world, and has a faculty of 225 artist-teachers and scholars. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs for pre-college students, adults, and elders, NEC offers a complete music curriculum.