Music was a constant in Ned Corman's life. It even made him late for his first date with his future wife.
Chuck Mangione had asked him to audition a "handful" of saxophone players for a group, but that handful turned out to be three dozen. During an appearance on "Connections with Evan Dawson" in 2014, Corman recalled "that made me two hours late for my first date with Linda."
Corman, who died recently, is being remembered by many who he inspired as a musician, teacher, and arts advocate. In addition to playing alongside greats including Mangione and the RPO, Corman was an inspiration and mentor to many students over his years teaching music in the Penfield schools, and through founding programs that included The Commission Project, which brought professional musicians into schools to collaborate with students and write music for them to play.
He also founded an early version of the Rochester jazz festival, Swing 'n Jazz.
“Through that work," said Joseph Avenue Arts & Culture Alliance board President William Ferguson II, Corman "helped many young people ... come to their own understanding of the place music has in their lives.”
Corman was a founding member of that board.
Corman first came to Rochester in the 1950s, a local music star back in his small Pennsylvania town — who quickly discovered he had a lot to learn at Eastman. That included playing in an orchestra for the first time.
"I think I experienced the fairly classic big fish in a little pond and into a little fish in a big pond," Corman said during his 2014 "Connections" appearance.
He was a quick and determined study, and had help along the way from mentors including conductor Frederick Fennell and clarinet professor Stanley Hasty.
Corman found his way, as a performer, teacher, and arts advocate.
In 2014, he published a memoir “Now’s the Time: A Story of Music, Education, and Advocacy," full of inspiring stories — and a number of wild and funny anecdotes.
You can hear some of those stories in that 2014 "Connections" interview, where Dawson dubbed him "the Kevin Bacon of the scene" — reflecting the many connections he had made through his career.
Dr. Neil Scheier, a member of the Joseph Avenue Arts Alliance board, wrote that, “The heartbeat of Ned lives on in Rochester and beyond's music and all the lives that he touched."
