W. Otto Miessner facts for kids

William Otto Miessner (born May 26, 1880, died May 27, 1967) was an American composer and a very important music teacher. He spent most of his life in the central United States, especially in Indiana and Wisconsin. He is best known for starting the first public high school band in the country.

Life and Music Career

Early Life and Education

William Miessner was born in Huntingburg, Indiana. His parents were Charles and Mary Miessner. He also had a younger brother named Benjamin Franklin Miessner. William finished high school in 1898.

He studied music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. There, he learned about music theory, how to play the piano, and how to sing. Later, he continued his studies in New York. He even took singing lessons in Berlin, Germany, in 1910.

Starting as a Teacher

Miessner began teaching music in 1900. He taught at a school in Boonville, Indiana until 1904. After that, from 1905 to 1909, he taught music to elementary and high school students in Connersville. He once said, "The idle mind is the devil’s workshop. But this is my workshop and I’ll not tolerate an idle mind as long as there’s excitement in music." This shows how much he believed in keeping minds busy with music.

The First High School Band

One day in 1906, Miessner met three students who had been suspended from school for misbehaving. They were watching a show and tapping their hands to the music. Miessner made a deal with them. He promised to help them get back into school. In return, they had to learn to play instruments for a new school band he wanted to start.

The boys agreed. Miessner encouraged them by promising a public concert and cool uniforms in the school colors. This idea worked very well! Because of this, Connersville High School created the first public high school band in the United States.

Miessner became very well known for this achievement. His band was even chosen to perform at a big teacher's meeting in 1908. This performance was written about in School Music, a national magazine for music teachers. This made Miessner famous in the world of music education.

Later Career and Achievements

After this success, Miessner held many important teaching and leadership jobs. From 1914 to 1922, he was the director of music schools at Milwaukee State Teachers College. He also taught summer classes at Northwestern University for many years.

In 1924, he started his own school, the Miessner Institute of Music, in Milwaukee. In the early 1930s, he worked with his brother Benjamin to create a new musical instrument called a rhythmicon. However, another inventor had already made a similar instrument with the same name.

From 1936 to 1945, Miessner led the music education department at the University of Kansas. He also helped write music textbooks for forty years. He was even the president of the Miessner Piano Company for ten years.

Miessner received many awards for his work as an educator. He earned special honorary doctorate degrees from the Cincinnati Conservatory and the Chicago Musical College. He was also president of the Music Educators National Conference from 1923 to 1924. In 1986, he was honored by being added to the Music Educators National Conference Hall of Fame.

Retirement and Final Years

When he retired, Miessner moved back to Connersville. He found out that some local schools could not find a music teacher. So, he got a special permit to teach again for three years, starting in 1956. Later, he was told he needed to take a beginner's teaching course to keep his permit. He felt that his many years of experience should be enough, so he decided not to take the course. He passed away in Connersville in 1967.

Music and Writings

Even though William Miessner is mostly remembered as a teacher, he also wrote music. Most of his music was for choirs. He also wrote many songs and some pieces for the piano. He created teaching books for people learning to play the violin and pianists. He also put together materials to teach about symphonic music and American songs.