Irwin Gage (September 4, 1939 – April 12, 2018) was an American

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 piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, specializing in accompanying

Lieder In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

Biography

Born in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, Gage studied

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

with Eugene Bossart, and later at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

with Ward Davenny. Other teachers included Erik Werba at the Vienna Music Academy and Hilde Langer-Rühl. He performed as a soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1973, playing the solo piano part for Mozart's concert aria Ch'io mi scordi di te? with soprano

Jessye Norman Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but did not limit herself to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert ...

. Above all, he was a collaborator with singers such as

Elly Ameling Elisabeth Sara "Elly" Ameling (born 8 February 1933) is a Dutch soprano, who is particularly known for lieder recitals and for performing works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Performing with distinguished pianists and ensembles around the globe, she w ...

, Arleen Auger, Walter Berry,

Brigitte Fassbaender Brigitte Fassbaender (; born 3 July 1939), is a German mezzo-soprano opera singer and a stage director. From 1999 to 2012 she was Theater manager, intendant (managing director) of the Tyrolean State Theatre in Innsbruck, Austria. She holds the ti ...

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (; 28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music. One of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, he is best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's ...

, Gundula Janowitz,

Christa Ludwig Christa Ludwig (16 March 1928 – 24 April 2021) was a German mezzo-soprano and sometime dramatic soprano, distinguished for her performances of opera, lieder, oratorio, and other major religious works like masses, passions, and solos in symph ...

Edda Moser Edda Moser (born 27 October 1938) is a German operatic soprano. She was particularly well known for her interpretations of music by Mozart. Her 1973 recital LP ' received the Grand Prix du Disque. Life and career Moser was born in Berlin, the ...

Dagmar Pecková Dagmar Pecková (born 4 April 1961) is a Czech operatic mezzo-soprano. Born in the Medlešice district of Chrudim, Pecková studied singing at the Prague Conservatory. She then became part of the young artist's program at the Semperoper in Dres ...

Lucia Popp Lucia Popp (born Lucia Poppová; 12 November 193916 November 1993) was a Slovak operatic soprano. She began her career as a soubrette, and later moved into the light-lyric and lyric coloratura soprano repertoire and then the lighter Richard Str ...

Hermann Prey Hermann Prey ( Berlin, 11 July 1929 – Krailling, 22 July 1998) was a German lyric baritone, who was equally at home in the Lied, operatic and concert repertoires. His American debut was in November 1952, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and ...

, Christine Schäfer,

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

. From his work with such international elite singers numerous award-winning recordings emerged. In 1970, he planned and accompanied an entire series of Lieder recitals at the Vienna Konzerthaus. From 1979 to 2005, Gage headed a song interpretation class at the Academy of Music and Theater in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

(now

Zurich University of the Arts Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, ) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich's School of Art and Design (HGKZ) and ...

). In 2001, he was also appointed to a professorship for song interpretation at the Saarbrücken Music Academy, where he initiated a nationally unique program entitled "Song Duo." Irwin Gage gave master classes in Europe, Japan, and the United States. He was a consultant and artistic director of concert series at various houses, including the Cologne Philharmonic. He sat on many juries for singing, song duo, chamber music, and solo piano at international music competitions.

Death

Gage died in Zurich, Switzerland on April 12, 2018, after a long period of physical impairment and illness. He was 78.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gage, Irwin 1939 births 2018 deaths Classical accompanists Academic staff of the Zurich University of the Arts University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni Musicians from Cleveland 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 20th-century American male musicians