John Sylvanus Thompson
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John Sylvanus Thompson (8 March 1889 – 1963) was an American
pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
, composer, and educator. He was born in
Williamstown, Pennsylvania Williamstown is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough is northeast of Harrisburg. Formerly, anthracite coal mines and hosiery mills were located in the borough. The population was 1,303 at the 2020 census. William ...
, to James C. Thompson, a merchant in a general store, and his Welsh wife, Emma J. Thompson (née Hall). John had three younger siblings: Alma, born 1895, James Jr., born in 1900, and Frank, born in 1905. Thompson had a promising career as a pianist, performing in many cities in America. In July, 1909, Thompson applied for a passport in preparation for touring Europe as a concert pianist. Once there, however, due to health issues and unrest leading up to World War I, he returned to the United States in April 1914. Thompson moved to Philadelphia to teach piano and met a writer, Loretta Katherine Foy, three years his junior, who was residing with her widowed mother. Thompson and Foy married on 14 August 1916 near his home town. They relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, where Thompson worked as a piano teacher in a music school. There, their son, John Jr., was born in 1918, followed by a second son, Charles Leslie, in 1924. He maintained a long and distinguished career in piano
pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...
. Thompson headed music conservatories in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, Indianapolis, and Kansas City. His piano methods, ''Modern Course for the Piano, Teaching Little Fingers to Play'' (the first part of the ''Modern Course''), ''Adult Piano Course'' and ''Easiest Piano Course'' are published by the Willis Music Company. Thompson died in
Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...
, after a long illness in 1963.


References

* Dibble, Cameron Shawn. "John Sylvanus Thompson: pianist, pedagogue, composer." Dissertation Conservatory of Music.
University of Missouri–Kansas City The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) is a public research university in Kansas City, Missouri. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and one of only two member universities with a medical school. As of 2020, the university ...
, 1992.
John Thompson
Willis Piano Music website {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, John Sylvanus 1889 births 1963 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American educators 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists American composers American male composers American male pianists American music educators American pianists