FredHargis

ABOUT

Mr. Hargis was born in Houston, Texas, and currently resides in Huntsville, Texas. He was educated at the University of Houston, and the University of North Texas where he was on the Dean’s List and a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. He studied with Don Bateman, Richard Wilke, Hal Tennyson, Tony Campise, Jeffrey Lerner, Byron Hester, Rich Matteson, Jack Peterson, Dan Hearle, and Debra Richtmeyer.

He has been a professor of clarinet and saxophone at the University of St. Thomas, tenor saxophonist with the Houston Saxophone Quartet, listed in "Who's Who Among Rising Young Americans 1992", "Marquis Who's Who Top Artists 2022", and led the internationally known Buddy Brock Orchestra from 1990 until 1997. Mr. Hargis is an accomplished woodwind performer and educator whose instrument repertoire includes: soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones, Eb, Bb, and bass clarinets, Eb and C flutes, alto flute, and piccolo.

Mr. Hargis has performed with the following orchestras: from Houston, Texas - The Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, Buddy Brock, Ed Gerlach, Danny Ward, Ezra Charles, Midstream; from Dallas, Texas - Mal Fitch; from Orlando, Florida - Marshall Grant and Lou Feldman; from Lincoln, Nebraska - Bobby Layne; from Las Vegas, Nevada - Russ Morgan; from Los Angeles, California - Manny Harmon; and from New York City, New York - Tex Beneke and Glenn Miller, and Composer David Werner Amram III with the Buddy Brock Orchestra.

Mr. Hargis has played in pit orchestras for the following: Henry Mancini, Andy Williams, Sammy Davis Jr., Micky Rooney, Carol Lawrence, Debbie Reynolds, Johnny Mathis, Robert Goulet, Rita Moreno, Vic Damone, Lola Falana, Connie Stevens, Peter Allen, Diahann Carroll, Rich Little, Freda Paine, Rip Taylor, Vikki Carr, Trini Lopez, Mitzi Gaynor, John Davidson, Red Skelton, Phyllis Diller, New York Rockettes, Temptations, Four Tops, Spinners, Gladys Knight, Danny Gans, Robert Guillaume, Ben Vereen, Tommy Tune, Harry Blackstone Jr., Kaye Starr, Patrick Swayze, Joe Williams, Natalie Cole, Keith Carradine, Frankie Valli, Jennifer Holiday, Chita Rivera, Ralph Macchio, Jerry Lewis, and Ray Charles.

Mr. Hargis has played in pit orchestras of Broadway musicals: SUGAR BABIES, ON YOUR TOES, ANNIE, GRAND HOTEL, BYE BYE BIRDIE, OKLAHOMA, KING AND I, BABES IN ARMS, GUYS AND DOLLS, HALF A SIXPENCE, PETER PAN, ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, WILL ROGERS FOLLIES, WEST SIDE STORY, BUSKERS, OLIVER, DAMN YANKEES, GYPSY, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, and the 1990 world premiere of JEKYLL & HYDE at the Alley Theater in Houston, Texas starring Chuck Wagner and Linda Eder.

The above performances have entertained dignitaries, celebrities, and other well-known persons including Presidents George W Bush (43), George H W Bush (41), Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, King Olav V of Norway, President Carlos Andrés Pérez of Venezuela, President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada of Bolivia, Paul Newman, Shelly Duvall, Mary Martin, Larry Hagman, Fred MacMurray, Clint Eastwood, Linda Carter, Juliet Prowse, Pat Paulson, Anita Bryant, Alan Hale, Jack Carter, Claude Atkins, Forrest Tucker, Bryant Gumble, Vernon Baird, H. Ross Perot, Morgan Fairchild, Luciano Pavarotti, Charleton Heston, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jacklyn Smith, and numerous Apollo astronauts.

Discography: recorded BIG BAND '82 with the Buddy Brock Orchestra on Universe Records in Dallas on November 14th and 15th, 1981; recorded VARIETY AND SOCIETY with the Buddy Brock Orchestra at Digital Services in Houston on September 11, 1988. Mr. Hargis has performed in many studio sessions.

Videography: Buddy Brock Orchestra on GOOD MORNING HOUSTON recorded at KTRK Channel 13 studios on May 28, 1982; Houston KUHT PBS' 30th Anniversary with Frankie Laine recorded May 29, 1983; Lyle Lovett's first music video SHE'S NO LADY, filmed at Rockefeller's in Houston on January 6th and 7th, 1988.

Career Highlight: Performing at President George H W Bush’s inaugural gala, January 20, 1989, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

Largest audience: estimated at ten million, while performing as a member of the official orchestra for the 1992 Republican National Convention, August 17-20, 1992 in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.