Gerald "Jerry" C. Nowak

Jerry Nowak, Prolific Composer/Arranger and Educator, Dies at 79

Gerald Chester Nowak, the prolific arranger/composer, author and music educator better known as Jerry Nowak, 79, died in Flemington on December 14, 2015, following a protracted illness.

Jerry achieved an international following as an arranger, composer, conductor and teacher, known especially for his innovations in the techniques and teaching of conducting and phrasing. With his brother, Henry Nowak, he co-authored two textbooks: Conducting the Music, Not the Musicians, and The Art of Expressive Playing. His writing career began in the early 1970s as an arranger for Paul Simon’s publishing company, Charing Cross Music. Over a forty-year period he produced over 1,100 arrangements and compositions, making him one of the most widely published musicians of his era.

He achieved his BS in Music and MA in Music Composition from the College of New Jersey, formerly Trenton State College. Early in his career Jerry worked as a woodwind player and session singer in New York and Philadelphia. He played with a diverse range of singers and groups, including big bands, jazz ensembles, and national pop and R&B groups including Stevie Wonder among many others. He also toured with Burt Bacharach, and was a founding member of the Philadelphia Saxophone Quartet and New Jersey Saxophone Quartet. Jerry was Music Director of the Delaware Valley Wind Symphony from its founding in 2006, and appeared as a guest conductor with the Delaware Valley Philharmonic Orchestra.

Jerry started his teaching career at Hunterdon Central High School in Flemington, NJ, where he taught from 1959 to 1969. He taught at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania until 2005 when he retired as Professor Emeritus of Music. He travelled extensively across the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as a clinician, adjudicator, and teacher of graduate level courses on ensemble performance, phrasing and conducting. Jerry also served as an adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey, and taught at The University of the Arts on the campus of Villanova University for twenty years.

He leaves behind his wife Judith, brother Henry, daughter Amy, son Christopher, sister-in-law Beth, and three granddaughters, Isabella, Sophia and Gabriella.

A visitation is scheduled for Sunday, December 20th, from 10 AM to 1 PM, at the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ, and a reception will follow from 1 to 3 PM nearby at Matt’s Red Rooster Grill. Cremation and burial in Prospect Hill Cemetery in Flemington will be private.

A memorial concert in honor of Jerry is planned for early 2016.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages tax-deductible donations to the Jerry Nowak Memorial Scholarship Fund, administered by the Delaware Valley Wind Symphony Inc., a registered 501(c)3 non-profit, tax ID 20-5501340. Checks may be mailed to P.O. Box 566, Langhorne, PA 19047.