Randolph Henning Hokanson (June 22, 1915 – October 18, 2018) was an American pianist and

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

in Seattle. He was noted for his recordings of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

, Chopin,

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

and

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

, and gave over 100 performances, including the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas. Hokanson was born in the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in June 1915 as the fifth of eleven children of a family of Swedish immigrants in Bellingham. He began playing the piano at the age of eight, and by the age of fifteen, he had begun giving recitals regularly in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...

. After high school, he studied in London on a scholarship with Harold Samuel,

Myra Hess Dame Julia Myra Hess, (25 February 1890 – 25 November 1965) was an English pianist best known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann. Career Early life Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 1890 to a J ...

and Carl Friedberg and later performed as soloist under

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

, Pierre Monteux,

Arthur Fiedler Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one ...

Walter Susskind Jan Walter Susskind (1 May 1913 – 25 March 1980) was a Czech-born British conductor, teacher and pianist. He began his career in his native Prague, and fled to Britain when Germany invaded the city in 1939. He worked for substantial periods in ...

, Milton Katims, and others. He toured the United States and Canada for eight years. He was part of the University of Washington music faculty from 1949 to 1984. He was still performing at the age of 90. In 2011, he released a memoir, ''With Head to the Music Bent: A Musician's Story''. He was married to composer Dorothy Cadzow (August 9, 1916 – June 26, 2001) from 1951 until her death. Hokanson gave a concert of pieces by Bach, Mozart and Chopin in Bayview Manor Albertson Hall, Seattle, on June 21, 2015, the day before his 100th birthday.Randolph Hokanson Turns 100: Bach, Mozart, Chopin
The Live Music Project: Seattle. He died on 18 October 2018 at the age of 103.

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External links

*
100-year-old pianist is so good he makes people cry"
video from ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hokanson, Randolph 1915 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American centenarians American classical pianists American male classical pianists University of Washington faculty Musicians from Washington (state) Writers from Washington (state) American people of Swedish descent People from Bellingham, Washington Men centenarians

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