Gary Kirkpatrick (August 19, 1941 - February 22, 2021) was an American

concert pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz, blues, and popular music, including rock and roll. Most pianists can, to ...

from

Junction City, Kansas Junction City is a city in and the county seat of Geary County, Kansas, Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,932. Fort Riley, a major United States Army, U.S. ...

. Kirkpatrick received his Bachelor of Music at

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

and his artist's diploma from the

University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

. Kirkpatrick was a member of the award-winning Vehrder Trio, composed of a rare violin, clarinet and piano. The ensemble commissioned over 100 pieces, including five triple concertos, by such composers as Alan Hovhannes,

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

Ned Rorem Ned Miller Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing i ...

and many others. They have recorded over 15 installments in the Making of a Medium CD Series. Recently, Kirkpatrick was a member of The Halcyon Trio, a trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano. The instrumentation of this ensemble was invented by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

in his

Kegelstatt Trio The ''Kegelstatt Trio'', K. 498, is a piano trio for clarinet, viola and piano in E-flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. History Mozart wrote the piano trio on 10 sheets (19 pages) in Vienna and dated the manuscript on 5 August 1786. Accordin ...

K. 498 for the same instrumentation known as Kegelstadt. The movie composer

Lalo Schiffrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical eleme ...

, composer of the theme from ''Mission: Impossible'', was commissioned to compose a triple concerto for the Halcyon Trio, which was premiered at The

New Jersey Performing Arts Center The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in Downtown Newark in Newark, New Jersey, is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Home to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), more than nine million visitors (incl ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

with the

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra The New Jersey Symphony, formerly the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), is an American symphony orchestra based in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Symphony is the state orchestra of New Jersey, performing classical subscription concer ...

conducted by Anne Mason. He was recipient of the Top Prize in the International Piano Competition Premio in

Jaén, Spain Jaén () is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain and the capital of the Jaén Province, Spain, province of Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The city of Jaén is the administrative and industrial centre for the provinc ...

and the Stepenov Piano Competition. He made his New York City debut at Carnegie Recital Hall. He has worked as a soloist,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

ian and teacher. He has performed in more than 40 countries, and has recently given the world premiere of John Link's Piano Concerto, premiered by the Wayne Chamber Orchestra. Kirkpatrick was professor of music at

William Paterson University William Paterson University, known as WP, officially William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), is a public university in Wayne, New Jersey, United States. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Founded in 1855 an ...

, where he taught from 1973 to 2019. He received The Dean's Award for Excellent Artistic Achievement in 1995 for excellence in teaching. Kirkpatrick died on February 22, 2021, at age 79.Gary Kirkpatrick 2/22/2021
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick, Gary 1941 births 2021 deaths American male pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American male musicians People from Junction City, Kansas