[AMS-announce] ANNOUNCEMENT: H. Wiley Hitchcock, 1923-2007

[ams-announce-admin at list.bowdoin.edu]

The Conservatory of Music of Brooklyn College (CUNY) deeply regrets to
announce that Distinguished Professor emeritus H. Wiley Hitchcock, 84,
passed away in the early morning of December 5, 2007, after a lengthy
illness.  He was born September 28, 1923, in Detroit, MI.   After attending
Dartmouth (A.B., 1944) and University of Michigan (M.M. 1948, Ph.D. 1954) –
studying in 1949 at the Conservatoire Américain (under Nadia Boulanger) –
and after teaching at the University of Michigan, N.Y.U., and Hunter
College, Professor Hitchcock came to Brooklyn College in 1971 where he was
the founding director of the college's Institute for Studies in American
Music (ISAM).  Wiley was brilliant, a true man of letters, a model
musicologist with multifaceted interests, impeccable standards, and
path-breaking publications.  His highly esteemed work in American music
studies (New Grove Dictionary of American Music; his Prentice-Hall textbook
series that included his Music in the United States; studies on Charles
Ives, etc. etc.) was built upon his excellent contributions to the fields of
French and Italian Baroque music (M.-A. Charpentier, G. Caccini, et al.).
He was a staunch advocate for American music of all kinds.  In 1990-92 he
served as elected president of the American Musicological Society, and the
number of distinguished projects and boards on which he served seems
endless.  Wiley was a respected colleague at the Conservatory as well as at
the CUNY Graduate Center's Doctoral Program in Music, where he became a
helpful and encouraging mentor and friend to many newly minted Ph.D.'s in
music.  Those of us who knew Wiley personally always relished the notes or
letters he sent us or the newsy gossip he might share.

For an interview that Wiley gave Frank J. Oteri in November 2002 and recalls
for us his special style and wit, see:
http://newmusicbox.org/44/interview_hitchcock.pdf

The Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College hopes to rename ISAM as the
Hitchcock Institute for Studies in American Music, in Professor Hitchcock's
memory.

Wiley is survived by his wife Janet and a daughter and son, Susan and Hugh,
from his first marriage, as well as two grandchildren.   There will be a
memorial service at a later date to be announced by the family.  (We will
let you know.)  Condolences may be sent to Janet Hitchcock at 1192 Park
Avenue #10E, New York NY 10128.
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