Jerry Kracht
Biography
Jerry Donald Kracht (b. 16 February 1941, Cherokee, Iowa) is an American composer and educator.
Dr. Kracht attended the University of Iowa where he earned Bachelor of Music in clarinet performance (1963) Master of Fine Arts in orchestral conducting (1967), Doctor of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting (1974). His teachers there included Thomas Ayers (clarinet) and James Dixon (conducting).
Dr. Kracht is Emeritus Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, where he conducted the University Symphony Orchestra and taught clarinet for thirty-three years, and was also a founding member of the Camas Wind Quintet and the Regency Concert Series there. In addition, he served for twenty-five years as artistic director and principal clarinetist of the Second City Chamber Series in Tacoma.
Since retiring from those positions in 2001 and 2007, respectively, he has concentrated on composing and arranging, with original works for band, orchestra, choir, and various chamber ensembles now to his credit, along with numerous chamber ensemble arrangements and transcriptions. His works have been performed at Pacific Lutheran University, Second City Chamber Series, the Methow Music Festival and the Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle, as well as numerous churches and Classical KING-FM 98.1.
Works for Winds
- Luther: Seven Scenes for Brass Quintet
- On the Square March
- Three Sketches for Woodwind Quintet
- To the Mountain (2017)
Resources
- Jerry Kracht, personal correspondence, March 2018
- Pacific Lutheran University Wind Ensemble concert program, 11 March 2018