Wilke Renwick was born Dec. 17, 1921, in Stockton, Calif., to Dr. Wilke Renwick and Lois Hammond Renwick. He took piano lessons from age 7 years until 14 when he was presented with a French horn. He played his first orchestral concert at age 15 with the Stockton Civic Symphony under Manlio Silva.
On Dec. 8, 1941, he enlisted in the United States Navy. He served in U.S. Navy bands in Washington, D.C., North Africa, Norfolk, Va., and Japan. He left the Navy to continue French horn study under Willem Valkenier and Harold Meek at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, graduating in 1951. He was assistant principal horn for the Pittsburgh Symphony for two seasons.
Renwick then entered the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston to complete his bachelor’s degree. While there he played third horn with the Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler in Boston and on a seven-week tour of the Midwest and East Coast. He graduated with high honors in May 1954 and became the principal horn of the Denver Symphony Orchestra. He remained with the DSO for 32 years, retiring in October 1986. While in Denver, he completed his Master of Arts in music education.
Wilke Renwick also was a composer of some note. In addition to several suites for orchestra, he composed an encore piece for brass quintet, “Dance,” which is played in more than 30 countries throughout the world. He and his wife, Janice Burtt Renwick, moved to the English Cotswolds for the next four years. Renwick played with and conducted the Blockley Brass Band during that time as well as free-lancing with five different pro-am orchestras in the nearby towns. In 1990, the Renwicks returned to Fort Collins, Colo., where he played with the faculty brass quintet at Colorado State University and third horn in the Fort Collins Symphony.
He moved to Florence, Oregon in 1998. He helped to found the Florence Brass, a brass quintet that entertained at the gazebo in the Old Town park on summer Saturdays for the next five years. Wilke was a charter member of the Oregon Coast Chamber Orchestra conducted by Robin DeVour.
