Nunc dimittis: Joseph Burgio and Br. Theophane Woodall, C.PP.S.

Ray McLellan died April 30. Born in 1958 in Florida, he learned to play the carillon while earning his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the University of Michigan, and he later studied at the Netherlands Carillon School.

A carillonneur member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, McLellan served on a number of GCNA committees, including as an exam juror. He served as university carillonneur at Michigan State University starting in 1997, was an active carillon recitalist in the United States and other countries, and was a faculty member of the North American Carillon School. He taught organ and piano, served as director of music at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, Monroe, Michigan, and was an accompanist for the Kol Halev Choir of Temple Beth Emeth, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Liuwe Tamminga, 68, died April 29. He was born September 25, 1953, in Hemelum, the Netherlands. Having studied at the conservatory of Groningen, he then went to Paris to study with André Isoir at the organ of the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Thereafter, he relocated to Italy to tutor with Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, with whom he began a thirty-year collaboration working with historic instruments.

From 1982 until his death, he served as organist of the Basilica of San Petronio, Bologna, Italy, which houses historic organs by Lorenzo da Prato (1471–1475) and Baldassarre Malamini (1596). For much of his time at this church, he shared his duties with Tagliavini, who died in 2017. Tamminga was noted for his performances of early Italian music on organ and harpsichord. He played and presented masterclasses throughout Europe and abroad, including the Academy for Italian Organ Music at Pistoia, Italy, and the Haarlem Summer Academy for Organists, Haarlem, the Netherlands. He was a collaborative musician with ensembles such as Odhecaton and Concerto Palatino.

Tamminga served as curator of the Tagliavini collection of instruments acquired in 2010 by Genus Bononiae in the Museum of San Colombano, Bologna. The collection includes organs, harpsichords, clavichords, pianos, and automated instruments from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. As a musicologist, he edited publications of the music of Marco Antonio Cavazzoni, Jacques Buus, and others. His numerous recordings from 1991 through 2017 include two compact discs of the organ works of Giacomo Puccini. Other recordings featured works of Frescobaldi, Mozart, Palestrina, Cavazzoni, and Giovanni Gabrieli.

Reverend Ralph Verdi, C.PP.S., 76, died May 10 in Carthagena, Ohio. Fr. Verdi was born September 21, 1944, in New York. He entered the Society of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood in 1962 at St. Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, Indiana, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 19, 1971, at St. Charles Seminary, now St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio.

After ordination, Fr. Verdi returned to St. Joseph’s College to teach in its music department. He later attended the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., for graduate studies in music, earning a doctoral degree in composition. He then continued in music and education at St. Joseph’s College, particularly with the Rensselaer Program of Church Music and Liturgy, teaching music theory and composition.

In 2005, he was appointed parochial vicar at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Cleveland, Ohio. In 2010, he served as sacramental minister at St. Rita and Precious Blood Parishes in Dayton, Ohio, later becoming part-time chaplain for the Sisters of the Precious Blood in Dayton.

Fr. Verdi retired to St. Charles Center in 2015. With his health declining, he launched his search for a kidney transplant, which took place in late 2017. He faced numerous medical obstacles during his recovery, but eventually made his way back to St. Charles Center, where he spent his last years.

Fr. Verdi incorporated music into his priestly ministry as a teacher and composer. He composed several hymns to the Precious Blood as well as a “Votive Mass for St. Gaspar del Bufalo” and the Precious Blood Founders Hymn Collection. His compositions were published by GIA Publications, Chicago, Illinois, including “Come, Let Us Adore,” “Psalm for Christmas,” and “Psalm for Pentecost.” He served as a contributing editor to the publisher’s hymnals, Worship II (1975) and Worship, Third Edition (1986).

Reverend Ralph Verdi is survived by his brother Richard (Mary) of Bronx, New York; and his sister Barbara (Frank) Rakas of Yonkers, New York. A funeral Mass was celebrated privately on May 14 at St. Charles Center with burial in the community cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, Cincinnati Province: cpps-preciousblood.org.

Bryan Keith Gray, 72, died October 24, 2020. He was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, March 2, 1948. He started piano lessons before he was age ten and was accepted into the Governor’s Program for Gifted Children early in its formation, later returning to teach in the program. He graduated from Lake Charles High School in 1966 having been a member and captain of the school’s band. At McNeese State University, Lake Charles, he was a member of the marching band and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity. During this time, Gray was awarded a Rotary Foundation Undergraduate Fellowship to study in Strasbourg, France, for a year. Upon his return he graduated from McNeese with two Bachelor of Arts degrees in organ performance and in music theory and composition.

While in France Gray converted to Catholicism. He would later enter Notre Dame Graduate School in New Orleans, Louisiana, studying for ordination. In 1979 he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. A few years later he was chosen to study canon law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., then returning to Baton Rouge as a canon lawyer and judge.

Due to health problems Gray decided to leave the priesthood. He moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, to work for Nichols & Simpson, Inc., Organbuilders, where he remained for 28 years until his death. He was a member of the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Throughout his life he played organ at various churches in Lake Charles, including the Christian Science Church, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, and McNeese State University Catholic Student Center. He served as organist for his home church, First Christian Church of Lake Charles, under the direction of his father. 

Bryan Keith Gray is survived by his sister Patty G. Boyd (husband Mike) of Colbert, Georgia; sister-in-law Lynn H. Gray of Lake Charles, Louisiana; and several nieces and nephews.

William “Will” O. Headlee, 90, died November 9, 2020, in Syracuse, New York. He was Professor Emeritus of Organ and University Organist Emeritus at Syracuse University. He came to Syracuse to study with Arthur Poister and earned the Master of Music degree in 1953, following undergraduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Jan Philip Schinhan. Hobart Whitman was his first organ teacher. Headlee held the associate certificate of the American Guild of Organists.

Headlee retired from Syracuse University in 1992 after 36 years of varied academic responsibilities and continuous choir directing activity, including six seasons with the Hendricks Chapel Choir. He served as organist at Park Central Presbyterian Church from 1992 until his death. During his retirement years he was the coordinator of the Arthur Poister Competition in Organ Playing.

Active in both the AGO and the Organ Historical Society, he served often on convention planning committees for both groups and was a member of the Historic Organs Citations Committee and the E. Power Biggs Fellowship Committee of the OHS. In 2016, he was awarded the OHS Distinguished Service Award.

A recording, 100 Years of Organ Music at Syracuse University (Raven OAR-440) was released in 1999 of the program he played for the Crouse College Centennial in 1989, performing on the 1950 Holtkamp Organ in Crouse Auditorium and the School of Music’s one-manual 1968 Schwenkedel organ. Another recording is forthcoming from the 2004 OHS convention where he presented a program on the W. W. Kimball organ at Saint Louis Catholic Church, Buffalo, New York.

William Headlee was buried next to his long-time partner, Richard C. Pitifer. A celebration of his life will be held at a later time.

Harold “Hal” Rutz, 90, died November 17, 2020. He was born March 20, 1930, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from Concordia University (then Concordia Teachers College), River Forest, Illinois, in 1952, and completed a Master of Music degree at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, in 1960. In 1975 he studied further at Cambridge University, England, and in 1985 at the Royal School of Church Music, London.

In June 1954, Rutz married Viola Larkin of Tampa, Florida, whom he met while they were college students. They were married for 62 years.

Rutz taught in elementary school and was a parish musician in Detroit, Michigan, from 1954 to 1956 and in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1956 to 1964, during which time children Faith, Paul, and Hope were born. The Rutz family moved to Austin, Texas, in summer 1964 when he accepted a position as head of the music department at Concordia University (then Concordia Lutheran College). He taught music theory, music history, hymnology, piano and organ lessons, and conducted the college choir until retiring in 1996, receiving Concordia’s Martin J. Neeb Teaching Excellence Award by vote of the student body that year. His choirs toured annually in the southern United States, and in 1985 he was co-leader of a tour to Martin Luther and J. S. Bach sites in what was then East Germany.

Rutz frequently performed organ recitals and, on occasion, he and son Paul performed together. Among his organ teachers were Hugo Gehrke, Paul Bunjes, Thomas Matthews, Peter Hurford, and Michael Radulescu. Rutz composed organ and choral music, and many of his compositions are published by Wayne Leupold Editions. Upon his retirement, he was named Professor Emeritus at Concordia University. 

He was active in the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and Hope Lutheran Church in Austin. In retirement he served on the board of La Follia Austin Baroque and volunteered for classical music station KMFA, Drive a Senior, and the Windsor Park Neighborhood Association. 

Harold Rutz was preceded in death by his wife, Viola; brother Carl; grandson Matthew Kelley; and daughter-in-law Sandra Henry. He is survived by daughter Faith Kelley and husband David; son Paul; daughter Hope Bartolotta and husband Peter; four Bartolotta grandchildren, Joy, Pierce, Eden, and Asher; niece Patricia Wiedenhoeft; and nephew Gerald Rutz. Memorial contributions may be made to the Professor Harold and Viola Rutz Music Department Endowment on the website of Concordia University, Austin (www.concordia.edu), entering the name of the endowment in the Other Gift Designation box.

Richard French Davidson

Richard French Davidson, 80, died July 13 in Brick, New Jersey. Born June 18, 1942, and raised in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, he was active in the liturgical music of the Episcopal Church from an early age, serving as a chorister at his home parish of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Montclair, New Jersey, as well as seasonally at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City under the direction of Norman Coke-Jephcott.

Davidson graduated from Wagner College, Staten Island, New York, in 1964, earning a degree in clinical psychology while pursuing parallel studies in computer programming. He maintained a full-time career in data management with Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Continuing his involvement with the musical and liturgical life of the Episcopal Church, Davidson began in the late 1970s to be retained by churches and other institutions as a consultant on organ design and installations, both pipe and electronic, the latter being an area where he applied his postgraduate study and knowledge of psychoacoustics (the relationship between sound and its reception/interpretation by the human ear and mind) to the custom design of loudspeakers for organ installations. He expanded this business beyond the organ trade to the commercial design of loudspeakers for home stereo equipment in the high-end audiophile market, earning several awards and citations by trade groups and audiophile societies.

After leaving Chase, he assembled his various business pursuits under the umbrella of his own company, establishing Innovative Techniques Corporation (ITC) in Herbertsville, New Jersey, in 1980. In that decade, with his work as a consultant increasingly focused on pipe organ projects, he began studying pipe organ tuning and maintenance with organ builder Donald Davett in Hartford, Connecticut, pipe voicing with Gilbert Adams and Hans Schmidt, and tonal finishing with Ronald Thayer.

Having developed a regular pipe organ tuning and maintenance clientele in central New Jersey, Davidson began to design and build new pipe organs under the ITC nameplate after relocating the firm to Jackson, New Jersey, in 1992, where he expanded his facilities to include a complete organ shop, entering into partnership with Edward Hillis, formerly of Gress-Miles. During the 1990s the firm designed six new instruments, ranging from seven to 32 ranks, and rebuilt and revoiced several others in the New York and New Jersey area. In his approach to tonal design, Davidson would often cite “Father” Henry Willis, Ernest Skinner, and Cuthbert Harrison as his greatest influences.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s Davidson’s focus returned to electronic instruments, working first with Makin and later with Phoenix, designing compact and portable tone cabinets, their size facilitating ease of transport as well as placement and configuration during installation. During this period he also tonally finished instruments employing the customizable Hauptwerk system in several New Jersey churches. Davidson closed the ITC pipe organ shop in 2008 but continued to tune and maintain pipe organs through 2015. Davidson was in demand as a bass chorister, singing regularly at numerous Episcopal and Methodist churches in New Jersey, as well as Rutgers University, the annual choir festival in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, and various community choruses.

Richard Davidson was predeceased in 1994 by his wife of 29 years, Ethel Burkey Davidson, an organist and fellow Episcopal Church chorister, who often served as demonstration organist on recordings of his instruments. Both were active members of the Monmouth County and Ocean County, New Jersey, chapters of the American Guild of Organists. The Davidsons were well known for their gracious hospitality, and their home was often a salon for singers and musicians. In his last years, as a widower and retiree, Davidson became a founding member of Franciscan Servants of God’s Grace, a group dedicated to caring for and ministering to elderly and infirm individuals in hospitals and nursing homes, many of whom had no other surviving families to care for their needs, and continued this charitable activity until just a few weeks before his death.

Richard French Davidson is survived by two brothers, Penn and John, a nephew Chris, and a niece Karen. Funeral services were held August 27 at Trinity Episcopal Church Red Bank, New Jersey, with burial in the parish churchyard.

Foster H. Diehl

Foster H. Diehl, 84, died August 26. He was born in Elmira, New York, and demonstrated a natural gift for sound and music in primary school, taking music lessons until he left for college. He held his first organist position at the age of 14 for a small country church outside Utica, New York.

Diehl was a resident student at the Royal School of Church Music in Addington Palace from 1958 until 1961 and was a graduate of Trinity College of Music, London, UK. In 1958 he received his A.R.C.M. diploma in organ performance from the Royal College of Music and won the highest marks awarded that year. He also held an L. Mus. degree with a major in organ and a minor in church music. In 1961 he earned a fellowship (F.T.C.L.) in organ with a minor in Gregorian chant.

Upon completion of his studies in England, Diehl returned to the United States where he was appointed organist and choirmaster at St. Joseph Catholic Church, West New York, New Jersey. He was married shortly thereafter to his British fiancée, Clare Harwood, an accomplished pianist. In 1964, at the age of 26, he was appointed organist for the Cathedral of the Holy Name, Chicago, Illinois, and subsequently assumed the position of choirmaster, leading both the men’s and boy’s choirs, and further served as director of music for Cathedral High School. In 1975 he was appointed organist and choirmaster of St. Petronille Catholic Church, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. In his later years he relocated to Florida and held two more positions, at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Largo, and later at Highland Presbyterian in Clearwater, where he finally retired at the age of 75.

Foster H. Diehl is survived by his daughters Renee and Erika, grandsons Cody and Cameron, great-granddaughter Morgan, and sister Donna. He was buried at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Cemetery, Royal Palm Beach, Florida.

Benjamin Goddard Mague

Benjamin Goddard Mague, 74, former president of Andover Organ Company, died July 4. He was born May 17, 1948, in Machias, Maine. His parents were Westminster Choir College graduates who, before settling in Maine, served as joint music directors at Plymouth Congregational Church, New Haven, Connecticut. Mague attended Mt. Hermon School and then Colby College, where he built his first organ as an interterm project. He received a Master

of Music degree in organ from the University of Wisconsin, where he also did a survey of contemporary North American tracker organ builders. A 4-1⁄2-year stint in the United States Navy as a Chaplain’s Yeoman found him in Cuba connecting with the chaplain’s daughter, Kathy, with whom he was married for 48 years.

Mague’s lifelong career was at the Andover Organ Company, where he started in 1975 and remained for 47 years, retiring in April 2022. He worked successively as a designer, project team leader, and shop manager, served as company treasurer from 1995 to 2012, and as president from 2012 to 2021. For over 52 years, Mague served as an organist at several churches and naval chapels. After overseeing the mechanical design and installation of Andover Opus 93 in 1985 at First Congregational Church of Milford, New Hampshire, he became the minister of music there, retiring in 2019.

Benjamin Goddard Mague is survived by his wife, Kathy; three children and their spouses, Jeremy (Danielle), Steve (Claire), and Anna (Garrett); and three grandchildren, Ryan, Kaylee, and Genevieve. A celebration of his life was held July 9 at First Congregational Church of Milford. Michael Eaton, an Andover colleague, played the organ that Mague designed and played for 34 years. Memorial gifts in his memory may be made to Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund by Global Giving or American Heart Association.

Donald Gordon McDonald

Donald Gordon McDonald, 97, died August 5 in Dallas, Texas. He was born February 22, 1925, in Waxahachie, Texas. In high school, he took organ lessons with Dora Poteet Barclay at Southern Methodist University. Following high school, he enrolled at SMU as a pre-med student, but left to serve in World War II in the United States Army Air Corps, Ninth Air Force, from 1943 until 1945 as a chaplain’s assistant. During the war, he was involved in the Northern France Campaign, the Ardennes Campaign, the Rhineland Campaign, and the Central Europe Campaign. For his service McDonald received the American Theater Service Medal, the European Theater Service Medal with four bronze battle stars, and the Victory Medal.

Returning from the war, McDonald attended Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to study with Alexander McCurdy, earning his Bachelor of Music degree in 1950. He continued his studies at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, where he obtained a Master of Sacred Music degree in 1952 and later a Doctor of Sacred Music degree in 1964.

McDonald served on the organ faculty at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey, from 1952 to 1994 and at Union Theological Seminary from 1958 to 1966. An active recitalist, he was the first American organist to play at the annual organ week in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1963. From 1955 to 1975, he was a touring organ recitalist under the management of Colbert-LaBerge concert management. He served as the organist and minister of music at Christ Church, United Methodist, in New York City for 30 years.

Donald Gordon McDonald is survived by niece Cyndy Matthews and nephew Scotty Rutherford and their families. Memorial gifts may be given to the American Guild of Organists endowment fund at agohq.org or the Central Park Conservancy at centralparknyc.org.

Dominick Argento, 91, died February 20. Born October 27, 1927, he grew up in York, Pennsylvania. After high school graduation, he was drafted into the United States Army and served as a cryptographer. Following World War II, he entered the Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, Maryland, to study piano, but switched to composition, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1951 and a master’s degree in 1953. He would eventually earn a doctoral degree from Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York. The recipient of Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships, Argento studied in Italy with Luigi Dallapiccola.

In 1958, he and his wife, Carolyn Bailey, moved to Minneapolis, where he began teaching composition and theory at the University of Minnesota. He soon began receiving numerous commissions, particularly for opera. Among his organ works was Prelude for Easter Dawning.

In the 1970s, Argento began composing choral works, particularly for the choir of Plymouth Congregational Church of Minneapolis. He would be the recipient of commissions for choral music by Plymouth Church, the Cathedral of St. Mark, Minneapolis, the Buffalo Schola Cantorum, Harvard and Yale glee clubs, and other organizations. After retirement from the University of Minnesota in 1997, he was named professor emeritus, and continued to live in Minneapolis.

David Gifford, 97, of Northampton, Massachusetts, died January 26. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 16, 1921, and spent his childhood in Bedford and Cambridge. He attended the Longy School of Music, Cambridge, where he studied organ with E. Power Biggs. After serving in World War II as a Military Police Escort Guide, United States Army, Gifford attended Harvard University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music.

In 1949 he married Irene Davidson, and they moved to the Oberlin, Ohio, where he studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, earning a Master of Music degree. After graduation, the Giffords returned to Massachusetts and settled in Hingham. He became organist and music director at the Old Ship Church, Hingham, and worked as a pipe maker and voicer at Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, Boston.

He eventually studied for an education degree at Lesley College and taught at Walter F. Dearborn School, Cambridge, and at the Gifford School, founded by his mother, Margaret Gifford, in Weston, Massachusetts. Upon leaving teaching, he returned to organbuilding and became a pipe maker and reed voicer for C. B. Fisk, Inc., Gloucester, Massachusetts, and served as organist at Newburyport Presbyterian Church. After retirement, the Giffords moved to Charlemont, Massachusetts, and David Gifford became organist for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ashfield, Massachusetts. After his wife’s death in 1999, he moved to Cummington, Massachusetts, and was organist at the Village Congregational Church. Eventually Gifford retired from active organ playing and moved to Williamsburg and then to Northampton, Massachusetts.

David Gifford is survived by his son Ralph Gifford and wife Amy of Westwood, New Jersey, and daughter Anne Dodge and husband Edward of Barkhamsted, Connecticut. A memorial service was held February 16 at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Ashfield. Memorial contributions may be made to The Gifford School, 177 Boston Post Rd., Weston, MA 02493.

Robert “Robbie” Anthony Giroir, Jr., 59, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, died December 23, 2018, after a brief illness. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Louisiana State University and in 1985 became organist and director of music at St. Joseph Catholic Cathedral, Baton Rouge, as well as director of choral studies at Baton Rouge Magnet High School.

During Giroir’s tenure, the choirs at the school consistently earned superior ratings at district and state choral assessments. In the last 15 years, choirs under his direction performed in England, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France, and Vatican City. He was named “Music Teacher of the Year” by the Baton Rouge Symphony League for 2010–2011. As director of music and organist at St. Joseph Cathedral, he oversaw the acquisition of the Reuter organ in 1993 as part of the parish’s bicentennial.

His funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Joseph Cathedral on December 27 and was televised live throughout the Diocese of Baton Rouge. His best friend and protégé, Ryan Hebert of the University of Tampa, accompanied the funeral. Members of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra provided a chamber ensemble. The choirs of the cathedral and Baton Rouge Magnet High School sang, assisted by alumni of both groups, comprising more than 130 choristers in all.

Robert Anthony Giroir, Jr., is survived by his mother, Myrtis Leblanc Giroir; sister and brother-in-law, Danette and Ronald Legendre; and nephews with their wives and children, Ladd, Abby, and Landon Legendre, and Brant, Brittney, and Harper Jane Legendre.

Noel Rawsthorne, 89, died January 28. Born December 24, 1929, he studied with Harold Dawber at Royal Manchester College of Music (now Royal Northern College of Music), after which he studied with Fernando Germani in Italy and Marcel Dupré in France.

Rawsthorne was organist of Liverpool Cathedral, UK, from 1955 until 1980, when he was named organist emeritus. From 1980 until 1984 he was also organist of St. George’s Hall, Liverpool. As a recitalist, he performed throughout the UK, Europe, and the former Soviet Republic. In 1994, the University of Liverpool awarded him an honorary doctorate of music. A memorial service was held March 3 at the cathedral of Liverpool.

James P. Autenrith

James P. Autenrith, 97, of Potsdam, New York, died September 20 in Canton, New York. Born in New Berlin, New York, on October 1, 1923, he was raised in Newport and graduated from West Canada Valley Central School. He served in World War II as a chaplain’s assistant in Mannheim, Germany, and was assigned to play the organ in Heidelberg at the funeral of General George S. Patton.

James Autenrith held a 46-year career including teaching at Michigan State University, East Lansing, and at the State University of New York Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. He also served as church organist in Gloversville, Utica, and Auburn, New York, as well as in Battle Creek and East Lansing, Michigan. Autenrith was organist and choir director at the Potsdam United Methodist Church for 35 years and played many organ recitals during this time, including performances at conventions of the Organ Historical Society.

James P. Autenrith is survived by his wife of 68 years, Audrey, as well as two sisters, Joan Stack of Boynton Beach, Florida, and Betsy Newman of Newport, New York, and nieces and nephews. A private service took place at Bayside Cemetery, Potsdam. Memorial gifts may be made to the James Autenrith Scholarship at Crane School of Music, c/o Potsdam College Foundation, 44 Pierrepont Avenue, Potsdam, New York 13676, or by visiting potsdam.edu/give.

John Kuzma

John Kuzma, 75, music educator, composer, arranger, organist, conductor, and philosopher, died August 7 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Born March 16, 1946, in Cincinnati, Kuzma began composing and arranging music as a high school student. Having taught himself to play the keyboard in grade school, he began study at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and won a scholarship at Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, where he studied with David Craighead. A Fulbright scholarship took him to Copenhagen, Denmark, for a year’s organ work with Finn Viderø before returning to the United States for graduate studies in organ and composition at the University of Illinois. There his organ teacher was Jerald Hamilton.

After graduation, he served as organist and choir director for St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, San Diego, founder and music director of the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, a teacher at San Diego State University and at University of California, Santa Barbara, and was a staff musical arranger at the Crystal Cathedral, Garden Grove, California. He became music director of the American Boy Choir in Princeton, New Jersey, before moving to Denver, Colorado, in 1987 to serve as minister of music at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, a post he held for nearly three decades prior to his retirement in 2015.

Kuzma’s arrangements and compositions have been performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Chorus, Colorado Children’s Chorale, Denver Brass, Denver Gay Men’s Chorus, Ars Nova Singers, American Boy Choir, and Dallas and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. Many of his compositions and arrangements have been performed around the world, and he was the arranger and composer of music for Pope St. John Paul II’s visit to Denver for World Youth Day in 1993. During his tenure at Montview, he established the Montview Conservatory of Music and began a series of classical music concerts for children that reached more than 14,000 Denver students over several years. His creation and funding of the Montview Music Endowment continues to support Montview’s music program and to pay professional musicians to perform in Montview’s concerts. Kuzma was a Colorado Arts Council Music Composition Fellowship winner in 1999.

John Kuzma is survived by his wife, Bess. Memorial gifts may be given to the music program at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, 1980 Dahlia Street, Denver, Colorado 80220. For more information: montview.org/music.