John Hsu

John Hsu (April 21, 1931 in Shantou[1][2] – March 24, 2018 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina) was a viol player, barytonist, and cellist. He was a leading specialist in French baroque viol music and a professor of music at Cornell University.[2][3][4]

Biography

John Tseng-Hsin Hsu was born in Shantou, China. When he was young, he fled the Second Sino-Japanese War with his family, first to Hong Kong, then to Shanghai, where he began his cello studies[2], with Johann Kraus and Walter Joachim.[5] In 1949, he moved to the United States to attend Carroll University, where he studied with Joseph Schroetter. The following year, he transferred to the New England Conservatory of Music, studying with Albert Zighera and Samuel Mayes.[5] He was a cellist in the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Springfield Symphony orchestras from 1950 to 1953. From 1953 to 1955, he was part of the Handel and Haydn Society and the New England Opera.[5] At the New England Conservatory, he earned undergraduate and master's degrees in 1953 and 1955, respectively.[2]

During his tenure at Cornell, Hsu served five years from 1966 to 1971 as chair of the department and from 1976 served as the Old Dominion Foundation Professor. His publications include musical records of the works of Charles Dollé and Marin Marais, among others, and his edition of Marais' complete instrumental works was the first in modern times.[3] He also released handbook on the techniques of the French baroque viol. Hsu relocated to Hong Kong and Shanghai with his family as a child before emigrating to the United States to attend college in 1949.[2] He received the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the government in France in 2001 in recognition of his work with French baroque.

References

  1. ↑ "John T. Hsu". Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Aloi, Daniel (28 March 2018). "Professor emeritus, musician and scholar John Hsu dies". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 Early Music America (Organization) (1993). Historical Performance: The Journal of Early Music America, Volumes 6-7. Early Music America. p. 109.
  4. ↑ Rhodes, Frank Harold Trevor (2001). The Creation of the Future: The Role of the American University. Cornell University Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN 080143937X.
  5. 1 2 3 Randel, Don Michael (2003). The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press. p. 397.
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