Frederick Coit Wight was born on April 30, 1859 in New London, Connecticut, the son of David and Nancy (Coit) Wight. His grandfather, John Wight, was a Scotch bandmaster of the Coldstream Guards of London who moved to Paris, where he played at the Opéra Comique and married a French opera singer, and then emigrated to America and settled in Providence, R. I. His father was prominent in New London for many years as an orchestra conductor and dancing master.
After Wight had received his elementary education at the Coit Street School, his father decided that he would make a musician of him instead of allowing him to attend the local high school. Accordingly, he laid out a schedule of six hours of music study daily, and in addition to his own teaching procured instruction for his son under such local musicians as Alfred H. Chappell, Frederick Sweetser, and Charles S. Elliott. For five years the boy journeyed once a week to Providence for lessons with David Wallace Reeves, a prominent band leader of the time. From Reeves he learned to compose for band, and received thorough instruction in harmony and composition. In addition to his studies he conducted an orchestra in New London and played the piano for his father's dancing school.
In 1876 he enlisted in the 3rd Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard and became a member of its band. The organization attended the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, marched in the Evacuation Parade in New York, and took part in President Harrison's inauguration in Washington. As a composer Wight was distinguished principally for his marches, the first of which was introduced by his teacher, D. W. Reeves, during a concert tour of New England. Many were written in honor of presidents of the United States - McKinley, Wilson, Coolidge, Harding, and others. During McKinley's administration Wight was a guest of honor at a concert of his compositions given in Washington for the benefit of those who had suffered from the loss of the Maine. Two of Wight's marches were included on the official program at the inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt. Of his one hundred and fifty compositions, the most ambitious was a comic opera, A Venetian Romance, produced at the Knickerbocker Theatre, New York, by the Frank Perley Opera Company in 1903; in revised form it was later presented at the Studebaker Theatre, Chicago, as The Girl and the Bandit. Another comic opera was The Temple of Hymen. In his last years Wight suffered from reduced finances and was aided by the New London Rotary Club, for whose weekly luncheons he played the piano. He was active until his last years. His last composition, written in 1930, was the "General Payne March, " dedicated to Brigadier-General Morris B. Payne of the Connecticut National Guard.
Wight was married on October 29, 1885, to Ora Belle Brown, daughter of Dr. William Leonard Marcy Brown. There was one child, a daughter.
