Queer Places:
1012 Denver St, Waterloo, IA 50702
Juilliard
School, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023
1439 Brassie Ave, Flossmoor, IL 60422-1813
Emmett
Mitchell Steele, Jr (October 7, 1927 - December 27, 2006) studied music in Austria
and conducted orchestras across Europe, but perhaps his greatest achievement
was spending more than a quarter century sharing his passion for the arts with
high school students in south suburban Flossmoor.
"What he brought to his classes was a love of great music," said William Jastrow, a 1970 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School and now a music teacher himself. "He was certainly one of the people who opened my ears to what great music was and what it took to achieve as a performer."
Emmett Mitchell Steele was born in Waverly, Iowa. A child prodigy, Steele took up the violin at age
6 and was playing in the professional orchestra in his hometown of Waterloo,
Iowa, by the time he was 14. He completed his undergraduate studies at the
University of Northern Iowa, then went on to get a master's degree at the
University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music. Steele studied at
Juilliard School of Music in New York City, then completed his training under
a maestro at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He began his professional
career in Europe but returned to the United States in the 1950s.
HHe helped
found Homewood-Flossmoor's music program, teaching orchestra and chorus
classes while pioneering some south suburban productions, from Rodgers and
Hammerstein musicals to student recitals. "He helped bring culture to the
south side," said Steele's partner. "I don't think he knew
how brilliant he was." During his 26 years of teaching, Steele would often
travel to Europe during the summer. He produced international symphony and
opera company tours, his specialty being
George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess."
His final concert series was a monthlong "World of George Gershwin" festival
held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. It was in Russia that he met a
young bass trombonist named Andre Kharlamov. In keeping with the mentoring
role he had played through much of his life, Steele sponsored Kharlamov's
move to Chicago. The trombonist has since received a doctorate degree from
Northwestern University and performed at the Lyric Opera. "He was a great
mentor to many people," said his partner. "He helped many of his students go on to
actual music careers." Outside of music, Steele was an avid art collector
and gardener, whom his partner referred to as "an archiver of pack rat
proportions." He was known for lively cocktail parties in the living room of
his Flossmoor home, and for his decadelong relationship with Foxy, a fox
terrier that his partner said was Steele's "best, best friend."
Emmett Mitchell Steele died of cancer on December 27, 2006, at his home in
Flossmoor.
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