Crescendo

 Cheney, Allen and Julie Cantrell. Crescendo: The Story of aMusical Genius Who Forever Changed a Southern Town. 2019. 336p. ISBN 9780785217404.

On the day that Fred Allen died, his sister, who was pregnant, went into labor and delivered a healthy baby boy that she named Fred in honor of her deceased brother. The midwife who helped deliver baby Fred was also known as an oracle, and she predicts that the baby will be very smart, but also very different. Born in striking poverty in rural Georgia during the Great Depression, Fred soon reveals that he is a gifted musician when at three years of age he can play full pieces on the piano without missing a single note. 

His parents work in the cotton mills, and their abject poverty and crushing existence lead to Fred being neglected and sexually abused by an uncle. He finds salvation in music, however, and rediscovers his love for singing and playing. Motivated and encouraged by dedicated educators and mentors, Fred escapes his family and heads to college. There he meets Winnie, the love of his life, and after graduation they marry. Fred continues to play music and to seek out a career in the field. Having made many contacts along the way, he moves to New York City with his wife and young daughter and enrolls at the Juilliard School, Union Theological Seminary, which possesses the best organ anywhere in the world, and Columbia University. Juggling all three schools, playing in a church in New Jersey, and his wife and daughter, Fred earns a position at RCA records, and wins Grammies for his producer talents.

None of these accomplishments are fulfilling, however, and Fred still dreams of Broadway. A crushing depression brought on by the developing awareness of his abuse as a child forces him to re-evaluate his priorities, and he moves his family away from New York back to Thomasville, Georgia, where he becomes the leader of a youth choir, and soon joins the faculty at the local high school. With his wife and daughter, he creates an amazing musical program that forty years later continues to be successful.

Fred's life as a musician and educator forever changed so many lives. His positive outlook and his dedication transformed sulky and taciturn teenagers into some of the best singers of his time. Fred's life is proof positive that the impacts educators have on their students can never truly be measured.