Stewart Lynell Gordon is an American musician, teacher, writer, editor, composer, and
impresario
An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer.
Hist ...
. Gordon is Professor of Keyboard Studies at the USC
Thornton School of Music
The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...
of the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
.
As a student, Stewart Gordon studied with a number of prominent pedagogues and concert artists including Olga Samaroff,
Walter Gieseking
Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (5 November 1895 – 26 October 1956) was a French-born German pianist and composer. Gieseking was renowned for his subtle touch, pedaling, and dynamic control—particularly in the music of Debussy and Ravel; he made inte ...
,
Cécile Staub Genhart, and
Adele Marcus
Adele Marcus (February 22, 1906 May 3, 1995) was an American pianist and instructor whose career was based at the Juilliard School in New York City.
Life and career
Marcus was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the youngest of 13 children of a rabbi ...
. As a performing pianist, Gordon toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas. Gordon's commercially issued recordings include works by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Scriabin, Ellis Kohs, Luis de Frietas-Branco, and the complete Rachmaninoff Preludes, although almost all of these are long out of print and only obtainable secondhand. He is officially a
Steinway
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...
Artist, and he serves on the board of directors of the Steinway Society of
Riverside County
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...
.
His academic career has included posts at
Wilmington College in
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
, where he served as Dean of the Music School, and
Queens College, City University of New York
Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body ...
, where he served as a Provost and a Vice-President in the Academic Affairs department.
Recordings
*Schubert Sonata Op. 143 and Schumann Sonata Op. 11. Washington Records, WR 425, 1965
*The Complete
Preludes of Rachmaninoff, Vol. I, Op. 23 and Op. 3. Washington Records, WR 426, 1967
*The Complete Preludes of Rachmaninoff, Vol. II Op. 32 and 2 early preludes. Washington Records 427, 1966
*Schubert German Dances, Washington Records, WR 441, 1968
*Stewart Gordon Plays Piano Favorites Beethoven, Scriabin, Debussy, DeFalla. Reformation Records, RR1011, 1968
*The Preludes of Freitas-Branco. Gulbenkian Foundation, 1971
Composer
As a composer Gordon has primarily channeled his efforts into musical theater, and his shows have been successfully produced in New York City, Washington, D.C.,
Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
, Hollywood, and Hawaii. His musical ''Libby'' generated renewed national interest in the historic cabaret performer
Libby Holman
Elizabeth Lloyd Holman (née Holzman; May 23, 1904 – June 18, 1971) was an American socialite, actress, singer, and activist.
Early life
Elizabeth Lloyd Holzman was born May 23, 1904, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of a lawyer and stockbrok ...
. Earlier in his career he also wrote the music for the historic pageant "Spirit of the Navy", a project initiated by the Chief of Naval Operations to celebrate the US Navy's 200th birthday. He is involved with book writer Robert Weller in creating a new musical based on the history of
Palm Springs
Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...
, California.
Competitions
He founded the
William Kapell
William Kapell (September 20, 1922October 29, 1953) was an American pianist and recording artist, killed at the age of 31 in the crash of a commercial airliner returning from a concert tour in Australia.
Biography
William Kapell was born in New ...
International Piano Competition and acted as its director for 15 years. In New York City he founded the Cultural Heritage Competition and the Great Gospel Competition. He is a past President of the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, and holds the title of Director of International Outreach. In Savannah, Georgia, he founded the Savannah Onstage Music Festivals, as well as its American Traditions Competition, and acted as their artistic director for 14 years. He has served as an adjudicator for many international competitions, including the
Gina Bachauer
Gina Bachauer (Greek: Τζίνα Μπαχάουερ; May 21, 1910, AthensAugust 22, 1976, Athens), was a Greek classical pianist who toured extensively in the United States and Europe. Interested in piano at a young age, Bachauer graduated from t ...
,
William Kapell
William Kapell (September 20, 1922October 29, 1953) was an American pianist and recording artist, killed at the age of 31 in the crash of a commercial airliner returning from a concert tour in Australia.
Biography
William Kapell was born in New ...
,
Rosa Ponselle
Rosa Melba Ponzillo, known as Rosa Ponselle (January 22, 1897 – May 25, 1981) was an American operatic soprano.
She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the 20t ...
, Virginia Waring and the finals of the Canadian Music Competitions, and Music Teachers National Competitions at the regional and national levels.
Entrepreneurial projects
*1967– 1985 Founder and Director of
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
International Piano Festival and William Kapell International Piano Competition
*1986–1988 Established the Cultural Heritage Competitions in New York City, a competitive festival event for pre-college students featuring special categories of literature: European, Black,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
,
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
East European
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
(piano,
strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
,
winds
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...
, voice).
*1988–2002 Founder and Director of the
Savannah Onstage music festival and the American Traditions Competition
Music
*Music through midi Dennis Alexander and Dennis Thurmond, 36 teaching pieces in three volumes for digital keyboard programmed to general midi, Alfred Music Publications, Van Nuys, California, 1994
Publications
*The Well Tempered Keyboard Teacher,
Schirmer Books
G. Schirmer, Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. The oldest active music publisher in the United States, Schirmer publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-know ...
, New York: First edition, 1991, co-authors Marienne Uszler and Elyse Mach; Second Edition, 2000, co-authors Marienne Uszler and Scott McBride Smith.
*Etudes for Piano Teachers, Reflections on the Teacher’s Art,
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, New York; Hardcover edition, 1995 paperback edition, 2001.
*A History of Keyboard Literature for the Piano and its Forerunners], Schirmer Books, New York; Hardcover edition 1996; paperback edition, 2002.
*Mastering the Art of Performance, Oxford University Press, New York, 2005
External links
University of Southern CaliforniaEtudes for Piano Teachers: Reflections on the Teacher's ArtPersonal Webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Stewart Lynell
American classical pianists
American male classical pianists
University of Maryland, College Park faculty
USC Thornton School of Music faculty
Queens College, City University of New York faculty
1930 births
Living people
Wilmington College (Ohio)
Place of birth missing (living people)
Musicians from Kansas
20th-century American pianists
21st-century classical pianists
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American pianists