Livingston Gearhart
Pianist, educator, composer and arranger Livingston Gearhart (Born, Buffalo, NY 12/31/1916; died Buffalo, NY July 14, 1996) is probably best known for his hit arrangement of the classic “Dry Bones” and his “Session Series” of skills-building books. Gearhart attended the Curtis Institute of Music. Subsequent studies in France included composition with Nadia Boulanger, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud and piano with Robert Cadadesus and Isodor Philipp. During 1941 to 1954, the two-piano team of Morley and Gearhart performed over 2000 concerts throughout the US and Canada in addition to recording for Columbia Masterworks and Decca Records. Gearhart also made numerous TV and radio appearances on the Fred Waring Show, for which he wrote as staff arranger. A two-CD retrospective, “Morley and Gearhart Rediscovered” (Ivory Classics), features 22 of Gearhart’s two-piano arrangements. In 1955 Gearhart joined the University of Buffalo Music Faculty, retiring to Professor Emeritus status in 1985. As an author and teacher, Gearhart delighted in composing lively, stimulating music for young singers and instrumentalists. His quest for effective teaching materials is particularly striking in the “Sessions Series.” These books are enriched by Gearhart’s special blend of humor and pedagogy. These ensemble collections for 2, 3, and 4 players contain a variety of styles, musical surprises and curiosities. Livingston Gearhart’s published catalog is available through the Shawnee Press catalog. Unpublished manuscripts are available for use, with permission, from the SUNY/Buffalo Music Library. Two-piano arrangements are held in the Fred Waring’s America Collection at Penn State University.
