The Maestro of Menomonie

Frank Waller photographed after winning a silver medal at the 1906 Olympics in St Louis.

Frank Waller of Menomonie,Wisconsin was a student athlete at the University of Wisconsin, a silver medalist at the 1904 Olympics, a celebrated concert pianist who toured with the legendary singer Lillian Russell, and director of several orchestras including the Cincinnati Grand Opera, the Boston Opera and the national WPA orchestra in the 1930's. Several European tours found him guest conducting the Berlin Symphony, the Vienna Tonkuenstler and the Dresden Philharmonic (among many others). He was an avid proponent of film music, urging young composers and musicians to embrace the new form of dramatic orchestral music. During the Great Depression he donated great amounts time and energy in the struggle to keep many failing city orchestras alive. In 1941 he landed in Kansas City as head of the vocal department at the Conservatory of Music. He passed away that year at the age of 57 after completing a summer long 12,000 mile motor trip of Western Canada. An extraordinary spirit. One more thing, he was the man who informed a fellow musician, William T Purdy, about a $100 prize that the University of Minnesota was offering for a new fight song. That song eventually became……."On Wisconsin".