Fillmore, John Comfort

1843-1898

An American teacher and musical writer and lecturer, born in Franklin, Conn.; and studied at Oberlin, (Ohio) College under George W. Steele. Later, at Leipsic Conservatory, from 1865 to 1867, he was a pupil of Richter and Hauptmann. He held many positions of importance and was highly esteemed as a teacher and critic and performed important services to the cause of musical culture in the west. Dr. Fillmore was from 1868 to 1877 professor of music at Ripon College, Ripon, Wis.; and from 1884 to 1895 director of the School of Music of Milwaukee, Wis., which he had founded. He then became musical director of Pomona College, Claremont, Cal., and was also director of the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin, Ohio. In 1883 he published a history of piano-music. In 1885 his new Lessons in Harmony appeared and, two years later, Lessons in Musical History. The last two are extensively used by musical instructors throughout the United States. Together with Miss Fletcher and F. La Flesche he published in 1893 "A Study of Indian Music." He wrote several magazine articles on aboriginal folk-music, a subject with which he was familiar, lectured in 'Various cities and read papers at important gatherings. Dr. Fillmore translated into English Riemann's Klavierschule and Natur der Harmonik.