Conn-Selmer recently presented its 2013 Centerstage Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Fred Hemke. Conn-Selmer recently presented its 2013 Centerstage Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Fred Hemke. Dr. Hemke has been one of the most significant educators in saxophones, retiring this past year from Northwestern University after 50 years of service. He has played and been a partner with Conn-Selmer and Henri Selmer Paris saxophones and mouthpieces throughout his career.
Dr. Hemke received this honor at the Conn-Selmer Institute ceremony on June 10th 2013 at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana. “When I was ten years old, I began to play my Dad’s old alto saxophone,” he said. “At eleven, my parents bought me a new Conn Constellation alto. At seventeen I received my first Selmer saxophone and have played a Selmer ever since. Conn and Selmer have shaped my entire musical career for the best part of the past sixty-seven years.”
