HAWLEY ADES

Hawley Ades was a great choral arranger. He was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1908, the son of two professional musicians -- choral director Lucius, and concert pianist and teacher Mary Findley Ades. Hawley quickly reflected his parent’s musicality.
He graduated from Rutgers College in 1929, and became a staff arranger for Irving Berlin's publishing company, where from 1932 to 1936 he made hundreds of stock arrangements for the leading dance bands of the day.

In 1937, he was hired as a choral arranger for Fred Waring's very popular choral group, The Pennsylvanians, and was a mainstay for the next 38 years. Those arrangements - published by Waring's Shawnee Press - are still very popular throughout the USA, especially with high school and community choirs. Fred Waring often introduced Ades on concert tours by saying that "more people play and sing Hawley Ades’ arrangements than those of any other arranger in history.”
In 1966, Ades authored the textbook “Choral Arranging” - a standard in the field. He retired from the Waring organization in 1975, but continued to write and analyze music almost to his death, at the age of 99.

One of Ades last arrangements was for a friend, composer Roger Rossi, who remembers, “Hawley Ades and I both took piano lessons from his mother, Mary Findley Ades. I’ve had a warm and lasting friendship with his entire family for fifty-five years. Naturally, upon completing my Ave Maria, I sent him a copy. Hawley quickly replied that he thought ‘the piece was amazingly beautiful.’ He added that he wanted to write a choral arrangement for it. I was shocked, because while still mentally sharp, Hawley was 95 years old, and half blind. He had to use a magnifying aid while scoring his notes.”

Rossi continued, “Gradually, note-by-note Hawley plodded away until it was done. It was a chore that exemplified his great work ethics, congeniality, and talents all the way into his later years. He did it for me, and I’m so proud of him. Unfortunately, he never heard his own arrangement. I’m sure he would have been thrilled, as I was. The world is a better place, because Hawley Ades was here!”

January 28, 2007, the Vero Beach Choral Society, a 40-member choir, performed Ades SATB choral arrangement in its World Premiere, with Dr. Marcos D. Flores conducting, and Kelly Coppage piano accompanying.

NOTE:
Hawley Ades’ nephew Tom Moreland, a lawyer in New York City, wrote two printed articles in The Mississippi Rag entitled Hawley Ades: Musical Memories - I and II (August and September 2008).

Charles Calello

Charles Calello is an American, singer, composer, conductor and arranger, born in Newark, New Jersey. He attended Newark Arts High School, and Manhattan School of Music.

In the late 1950s, Calello was a member of Frankie Valli's group The Four Lovers, but left before the group was transformed into The Four Seasons. In 1962, he became the newly-rechristened group's arranger. In 1965, he joined the Four Seasons' lineup as bassist, temporarily replacing Nick Massi (who, ironically, was Calello's replacement in The Four Lovers four years earlier) until a permanent replacement could be found. After recruiting Joe Long to succeed him as the bassist, Calello departed completely from the group, becoming a staff arranger/producer at Columbia Records. In 1968, he became an independent producer and arranger.

Calello has arranged and/or produced recorded music for such diverse artists as Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Neil Diamond, Bobby Vinton, Barry Manilow, Juice Newton, Al Martino, Paul Anka, Roberto Carlos, Glen Campbell, Bruce Springsteen, Al Kooper, and many others. He’s had over 100 Billboard chart records, 38 of which were top-10 hits. In 1979 he had his own hit record with a disco version of Louis Prima’s “Sing, Sing, Sing”.
In 1992, Calello became the principal arranger and guest conductor of the Florida Symphonic Pops in Boca Raton, which is now called the Sunshine Pops Orchestra.

Roger Rossi comments: I always loved Charles Calello’s creativity, his use of the full orchestra, and especially the string section in his arrangements. Ah yes, the strings. Just listen to them in Engelbert Humperdinck’s “After The Lovin’”, Barbra Streisand’s “My Heart Belongs To Me”, Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself”, or Odyssey’s “Native New Yorker”. So, needless to say, I was thrilled when in 2007, Charles Calello took on the writing of my Ave Maria’s orchestral accompaniment, and I still get goose-bumps whenever I hear it played. Yes, Calello has written for many “pop” singers and groups, but with my composition, he’s proven he can orchestrate within any musical environment, including Sacred. Calello once referred to my piece as “Brilliant.” Coming from this brilliant arranger, I take that as a huge compliment!

In 2008, Don Bestor’s Studio digitally recorded Calello’s symphonic orchestration with live brass by trumpeter Mark Green and trombonist Chauncey Mays, and vocal by soprano Melissa Rowell.

December 19, 2009, the Christ by the Sea United Methodist Church in Vero Beach, presented their Christmas Pageant which included the World Premiere for Calello’s orchestration of Rossi’s Ave Maria. The performance was by a 34-member church choir, and 28-piece church orchestra conducted by Dr. Marcos D. Flores. Composer Rossi’s 16-year old granddaughter, Katrina Colletti was the featured lead-soprano. (See: www.youtube.com). Calello’s arrangement was as expected . . . terrific!!