Harry Benjamin Jepson (August 16, 1870 – August 23, 1952) was an American organist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and (starting in 1906) the first University Organist of Yale University.A New Endowment to Secure the Future of The Newberry Memorial Organ / Woolsey Hall
" Accessed June 21, 2012. Jepson was born August 16, 1870, in New Haven, Connecticut. Jepson studied at Yale under Horatio Parker and

Gustave Stoeckel Gustave Jakob Stoeckel (November 9, 1819 – May 14, 1907) was a longtime music instructor and college organist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Biography Born in Maikammer, Bavarian Palatinate, Stoeckel graduated from the seminary in ...

, earning a B.A. in 1893 and a B.M. in 1894. While at Yale he was the organist for New Haven's Christ Church (in 1889) and Old Center Church (from 1890 to 1894 where he was succeeded by

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed f ...

). He then studied in Paris under Charles Marie Widor and Louis Vierne. He was appointed instructor at Yale in 1895, eventually rising to a full professorship in 1907. He also directed the

Battell Chapel Battell Chapel is the largest chapel of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Built in 1874–76, it was funded primarily with gifts from Joseph Battell and others of his family. Succeeding two previous chapel buildings on Yale's Old Campus, ...

choir. He retired in 1939; Charles Kullman was among the performers at the musical service in held for his retirement. Among his students were

Edward Shippen Barnes Edward Shippen Barnes (September 14, 1887 in Seabright, New Jersey – February 14, 1958, in Idyllwild, California) was an American organist. Life and career He was a graduate of Yale University, where he studied with Horatio Parker and Ha ...

Seth Bingham Seth Daniels Bingham (April 16, 1882 – June 21, 1972) was an American organist and prolific composer. Biography Bingham was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, the youngest of four siblings in a farming family that soon relocated to Naugatuck, Con ...

, and

Edwin Arthur Kraft Edwin Arthur Kraft (January 8, 1883 - July 15, 1962) was an American organist and choir-director. Biography Kraft was born in New Haven, Connecticut on January 8, 1883. At age 15 he became organist at New Haven's Grace Methodist Church, and soon a ...

. Jepson died August 23, 1952, in Noank, Connecticut. Yale's Harry B. Jepson Memorial Scholarship is named after him, and he oversaw the design and construction of the renowned

Newberry Memorial Organ The Newberry Memorial Organ is among the largest and most notable symphonic organs in the world. Located in Woolsey Hall at Yale University, the organ contains 197 ranks and 166 stops comprising 12,617 pipes. The original Woolsey Hall organ was bu ...

in Yale's Woolsey Hall.

Selected works

* ''Ballade'' for organ (), dedicated to Florence Annette Wells, New Haven area organist and 1900 Yale graduate. * ''Veni, Sancte Spiritus'', anthem for chorus and organ.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jepson, Harry Benjamin American classical organists American male organists 1870 births 1952 deaths Yale University alumni Yale University faculty Male classical organists People from New Haven, Connecticut