Reginald Stewart (20 April 1900 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

– 8 July 1984 in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

) was a Scottish conductor, pianist, and music educator who was chiefly active in the United States and Canada.

Life and career

He was Born with in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, Stewart began his musical studies in his native city with H.T. Collinson, the choirmaster at St Mary's Cathedral. He then pursued studies with

Arthur Friedheim Arthur Friedheim (russian: Артур Фридхайм, 14/26 October 1859 – 19 October 1932) was a Russian-born concert pianist and composer who was one of Franz Liszt's foremost pupils. One of Friedheim's students was Rildia Bee O'Bryan ...

and

Mark Hambourg Mark Hambourg (russian: Марк Михайлович Гамбург, 1 June 1879 – 26 August 1960) was a Russian British concert pianist. Life Mark Hambourg was the eldest son of the pianist Michael Hambourg (1855–1916), a pupil o ...

in Toronto, Canada, and with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

and

Isidor Philipp Isidor Edmond Philipp (first name sometimes spelled Isidore) (2 September 1863 – 20 February 1958) was a French pianist, composer, and pedagogue of Jewish Hungarian descent. He was born in Budapest and died in Paris. Biography Isidor Philipp ...

in Paris. In the 1920s, Stewart was musical director at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

's Hart House. During this period, he was hired by the ''

Toronto Daily Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

''′s radio station, CFCA, to create and lead Canada's first

radio orchestra A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...

, consisting of 50 musicians, for the station's regular dance program, ''Hour of Good Music''. Stewart is best remembered as the conductor of the

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...

(1942-1952) and the head of the

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

(1941-1958). In 1933 he founded the Toronto Bach Choir and in 1934 he founded the

Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra The Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. The ensemble was formed in 1989 by members of the CJRT Orchestra after that orchestra disbanded.Music Academy of the West The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California. Overview The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...

in Santa Barbara, California where he ultimately became chair of the piano department. He remained in Santa Barbara until his death at the age of 84 in July 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Reginald 1900 births 1984 deaths American male conductors (music) Peabody Institute faculty Music Academy of the West faculty 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians