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Biography
Clifford P. Lillya,
Professor Emeritus of Music, was Professor of
Trumpet and Cornet at the University of Michigan
School of Music for 32 years, retiring in 1979.
In 1974, he was named the Earl V. Moore
Professor of Music, recognizing his exceptional
professional excellence as a teacher and
academician and, in the words of Dean Emeritus
Allen P. Britton, "not only on account of his
highly professional competence, but for the
kindness, courtesy and humanity that are the
hallmarks of his character."
Lillya was born Jan. 20, 1910, in Joliet, Ill. He
began his trumpet studies in the public schools of
Joliet, but by his sophomore year in high school
was studying with H.A. VanderCook at the
VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. Regarded
as a trumpet player of exceptional promise, Lillya
won first place in the State Solo Contest for all
instruments in 1925, and a year later was again
awarded first place in a similar state cornet
contest. A year after graduating from high school,
Lillya auditioned for Edward Llewellyn and was
offered a membership in the Chicago Civic
Orchestra, an offer he declined in favor of
attending VanderCook College of Music. He received
his bachelor of music degree from that institution
in 1931, and a master of music degree from
Northwestern University, where he studied with
Veran Florent, in 1944.
After teaching instrumental music at Chicago's
Van Steuben Junior High School, and at Englewood
and Marshall High Schools in Chicago, Lillya came
to Michigan and joined the School of Music faculty
in 1947.
Considered one of the very finest
teachers of cornet and trumpet in the world,
Lillya's students enjoyed formidable success in
prominent performing and teaching positions across
the United States. Four of Lillya's students were
recipients of the Stanley Medal, the highest honor
an undergraduate student at the School of Music
can receive.
Well known as an adjudicator and as a conductor of
music clinics, Lillya also was the author of
articles, musical arrangements and instructional
texts, including the celebrated Lillya Cornet
Method. In 1971, he was named chair of the
Department of Wind and Percussion Instruments,
succeeding William D. Revelli.
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