(Re)Introducing Edwin Gerschefski

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music and the Musicology-Ethnomusicology Student Association co-sponsored a colloquium on one of the School of Music's most influential figures, Edwin Gerschefski (1909-1992). "(Re)introducing Edwin Gerschefski," presented by Dr. Craig Parker of Kansas State University and Dr. Franklin Greene, director of Georgia Singers, was a discussion of Gerschefski's life, works, and teaching. The colloquium was organized by Associate Professor of Music David Schiller. Gerschefski, a composer and pianist, graduated from Yale with degrees in music and philosophy. After his graduation, he studied composition with renowned pedagogue Joseph Schillinger. Later, Gerschefski served as director of the schools of music at Converse College and the University of New Mexico. He came to Athens in 1959, serving as director of the School of Music until 1972, and remaining on the faculty until 1976. A prolific composer, Gerschefski wrote orchestral, choral, band, solo, chamber, and film music. Some of Gerschefski's best-known works include his Septet for Brass, Half Moon Mountain, and Two Hundred Years, composed for America's bicentennial and premiered at the Kennedy Center in 1975. Learn more: Edwin Gerschefski talks about maturing as a composer. (Transcript from This I Believe, mid 1950s.)