William J. Browning was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 concert pianist, vocal coach

Vocal coach

A vocal coach is a music teacher who instructs singers on how to improve their singing technique, take care of and develop their voice, and prepare for the performance of a song or other work. Vocal coaches may give private music lessons to singers, or they may coach singers who are rehearsing on...

 and piano pedagogue.

Early life

William Browning was born in Lawrence, Kansas

Lawrence, Kansas

Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...

 into a musical family. His father was a concert singer who was friends with the esteemed pianist Carl Friedberg. Browning began playing at an early age, and had performed four Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 recitals by the time he was 20 years old. He lived and studied in the both the US and Europe.

His teachers included Carl Friedberg

Carl Friedberg

Carl Rudolf Hermann Friedberg was a German pianist and teacher.Friedberg studied piano with James Kwast and with Clara Schumann at the Hoch Conservatory, Frankfurt. He later became a teacher there and later at the Cologne Conservatory...

 who studied with Clara Schumann

Clara Schumann

Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...

 and Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...

, and Will Humble, student of Leopold Godowsky

Leopold Godowsky

Leopold Godowsky was a famed Polish American pianist, composer, and teacher. One of the most highly regarded performers of his time, he became known for his theories concerning the application of relaxed weight and economy of motion in piano playing, principles later propagated by Godowsky's...

 who Browning said “was perhaps one of the greatest pianists in history, and was court pianist for Emperor Franz Josef.” Later, Browning studied with Hans Levy Heniot, and Gui Mombaerts, who studied with Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...

’s student Arthur de Greef

Arthur De Greef

Arthur De Greef was a Belgian pianist and composer.Born in Louvain, he won first prize in a local music composition when he was only 11, and subsequently enrolled at the Brussels Conservatoire...

.

Biography

Browning first came to Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg State University, also called Pitt State or PSU, is a public university with approximately 7,100 students located in Pittsburg, Kansas, United States. A large percentage of the student population consists of residents within the Pittsburg region; the gender proportion is relatively equal...

 (PSU) in 1941 and studied music. His musical career was interrupted during World War II and he spent three years in Army Special Services with General George Patton’s 3rd Army Division.

Following military service, Browning desired to study with conductor Hans Levy Heniot who was close to Godowsky and who had recently come to Chicago following several years as music director of the Utah Symphony Orchestra

Utah Symphony Orchestra

-History:The first attempt to create a symphony group in the Utah area occurred in 1892, before Utah was a state. The Salt Lake Symphony was created and presented just one concert before disbanding. In 1902 the Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra was formed, and it remained in existence until 1911...

.At American Conservatory he earned a Masters Degree in Musical Performance. Following receipt of his masters degree, he continued to teach at the American Conservatory for 32 years. During this period he maintained close affiliation with Juilliard’s Adele Marcus

Adele Marcus

Adele Marcus was an American pianist, but better known as a teacher of many other famous pianists.She was born in Kansas City, the last of 13 children of a rabbi of Russian descent...

 and many other prominent pedagogues.

Subsequent to his tenure at American Conservatory of Music

American Conservatory of Music

The American Conservatory of Music was a major American school of music founded in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt . The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It was located in Chicago until 1991 when its Board of Trustees — chaired by Frederic Wilbur Hickman...

, Browning was on faculty at Sherwood Conservatory and the Chicago Musical College

Chicago Musical College

Chicago Musical College is a division of Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt UniversityIt was founded in 1867, less than four decades after the city of Chicago was incorporated...

 of Roosevelt University

Roosevelt University

Roosevelt University is a coeducational, private university with campuses in Chicago, Illinois and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university is named in honor of both former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university's curriculum is based on...

. His studio was at the Fine Arts Building (Chicago)

Fine Arts Building (Chicago)

The ten-story Fine Arts Building, also known as the Studebaker Building, is located on Michigan Avenue across from Grant Park in Chicago in the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. It was built for the Studebaker company in 1884–5 by Solon Spencer Beman, and extensively remodeled...

.

Performances and recordings

Throughout his career Browning soloed, performed with many symphonies and actively provided vocal accompaniment and coaching. As a recitalist, chamber music player and soloist with symphony orchestras, Browning performed extensively throughout North America, the UK, China and South Korea. During the 1960s he founded and led the Flancel Quartet, which premiered many American works. Under the auspices of Exxon, the National Music Council and the National Federation of Music Clubs, Browning premiered the William Ferris “Piano Sonata.” This work had been commissioned for him and was premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC as part of the Center’s Bicentennial Parade of American Music.

Browning began live radio broadcasts working for WOAK FM Radio He was the official accompanist for WGN

WGN (AM)

WGN is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is the only radio station owned by the Tribune Company, which also owns the flagship television station WGN-TV, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and Chicago magazine locally. WGN's transmitter is located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois...

’s Illinois Opera Guild Auditions of the Air, a vocal competition whose winners included many who went on to the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 and recording careers. He also worked on other WGN projects including Essays in Music and for WFMT

WFMT

WFMT is an FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk and jazz). The station is managed by Window To The World Communications, Inc., owner of WTTW, one of Chicago's two Public Broadcasting Service ...

 which was the successor to WGN on the FM Dial.

Death

Browning died of a Stroke on Sunday November 9 1997 at Hinsdale

Hinsdale, Illinois

Hinsdale is a suburb of Chicago, Illinois; it is located partly in Cook County and mainly in DuPage County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 17,349 at the 2000 census. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town has a rolling, wooded topography, with a quaint downtown and is a 30-minute...

 Hospital at age 73.

External links

• http://www.stephaniequinn.com/Teacher%20-%20Browning.htm Web page from Browning Student Stephanie Quinn with quotes, obituary, album jacket and other information.
• http://library Copies of Obituaries from Chicago Newspapers, plus 1989 article from Pittsburg, KS Morning Sun Pianist Returns to PSU for Recital Concert by Nikki Patrick.