Stewart, Reginald (Drysdale)
Stewart, Reginald (Drysdale)
Stewart, Reginald (Drysdale), Scottish conductor, pianist, and music educator; b. Edinburgh, April 20, 1900; d. Montecito, Calif., July 8, 1984. After training from H.T. Collinson, choirmaster at St. Mary’s Anglican Cathedral in Edinburgh, he studied with Arthur Fried-heim and Mark Hambourg in Toronto, and then with Boulanger and Philipp in Paris. From 1921 to 1924 he taught at the Canadian Academy of Music. He also began a career as a pianist and conductor in Canada. From 1929 to 1931 he conducted his own radio orch. From 1933 to 1941 he was conductor of the Toronto Bach Choir, and from 1934 to 1941 was conductor of the Toronto Promenade Sym. Concerts. During these years, he also appeared as a guest conductor and a pianist in Canada and the U.S. From 1941 to 1958 he was head of the Peabody Cons. of Music in Baltimore. He also was music director of the Baltimore Sym. Orch. from 1942 to 1952. In 1962 he joined the faculty of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, where he later served as head of its piano dept. His career was highlighted in the PBS documentary film An Evening with Reginald Stewart (Sept. 28, 1983).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire