Sewell, Fred Prominent Twin Cities business executive and former professional violinist, died at the age of 92 on October 30 at his home in Minneapolis. He leaves behind his wife of sixty-seven years, Gloria, two children: Laura (Peter Freeman) and James (Ilona Ilvonen), as well as four grandchildren: Jacqueline Hendrickson-Marrs (Alexander Marrs), Rex Hendrickson, Mona Sewell, and Oli Sewell. Frederick Eliot Sewell was born on May 17, 1932 and grew up in Northeast Minneapolis. He started the piano at age six, but almost immediately began begging his parents for violin lessons too. After finally agreeing to his request a few years later, he made rapid progress on the violin and he and his sister Fern, a fine pianist, often performed together as a duo. Besides his diligent music studies as a child, Fred was an outstanding academic student and was an avid builder of model airplanes (a hobby he also continued well into adulthood). Fred had great memories of many idyllic childhood summers spent at Crooked Lake, the family cabin in Anoka, MN. Later in his teens, he attended Meadowmount, a rigorous 8-week summer music camp in upstate NY for serious young violinists. After graduating from Edison High School in 1950, Fred was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with the legendary violin pedagogue, Ivan Galamian. After graduating from Curtis in 1954, Fred served in the military by playing in the Navy orchestra and was stationed in Washington DC. During his time there he met his future wife, Gloria Benham. The two were married in 1957 and moved back to the Twin Cities where Fred decided to take his father up on his offer to "try the family business." The business, Cole-Sewell Corporation, was located on University Avenue in St. Paul. While Fred had never seriously entertained the thought of following in his father's and uncle's footsteps, he was a man of many talents and interests, and it turned out that he not only enjoyed business but had a knack for it as well as music! From the 1960s to the 1990s Fred essentially had two careers; a businessman by day, and a professional violinist the rest of the time. It wasn't unusual for him to work an eight-hour day at the office and then come home and practice the violin for two or three hours in the evening. He served as concertmaster of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra for close to thirty years, and served in the same position for the Bach Society, the Plymouth Music Series (now called VocalEssence), and for orchestral ensembles for the Dale Warland Singers, St. Mark's Cathedral, and many other Twin Cities musical organizations. He soloed with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as with both the Minneapolis and St. Paul Civic Orchestras, and was a founder of the Musical Offering chamber ensemble. For more than thirty years he played in a trio with his cellist daughter, Laura, and close family friend, pianist Thelma Hunter. Fred was particularly proud of his two children and their artistic accomplishments: Laura, a professional cellist, and James, a dancer and founder of James Sewell Ballet in Minneapolis. Fred's many other interests included sailing (and racing) on Lake Superior for seven memorable summers, piloting his own Bonanza airplane for more than a decade, woodworking and fine furniture-building, being an avid golfer most of his life, and playing tennis two or three times a week up until a year before he died. He derived great satisfaction out of continually working on these various pursuits, and reached an exceedingly high level on most, if not all, of them. After retiring from Cole-Sewell in the 1990s he joined the board of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and over the next several decades he and Gloria became increasingly involved with philanthropy for various arts organizations in the Twin Cities. They were also one of six couples who founded the Minnesota Commissioning Club, an entity which lasted for over thirty years. The group was responsible for commissioning twenty-seven pieces of music for such notable ensembles as the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the King's College Choir in Cambridge, England, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, to name just a few. Fred and Gloria took enormous pleasure in welcoming people into their beautiful home on Cedar Lake. It was the site of countless family gatherings and many dinner parties with friends, as well as fundraising events for numerous causes over the years. Most notably, the Sewells hosted dozens of house concerts and chamber music gatherings, including their annual New Year's Eve chamber music party, a tradition started in the early 1960s which continues to this day. Friends and family have often described Fred using words such as "modest," "rare," "generous," and "a man of integrity." He lived a life of quiet excellence, coupled with a sincere sense of gratitude for the many opportunities and good fortune he encountered during his long life. A celebration of life is planned for sometime after the holidays.