‘His gentle wisdom lives on’: Remembering Harold Gray

One of the most beloved and visionary leaders in Oregon classical music, Harold Gray, died last month at age 79. ArtsWatch here offers remembrances from his friends, taken from announcements, interviews with ArtsWatch by his Florestan Trio comrades, and, at the end, a pair of remembrances written by two of Gray’s longtime colleagues.

In breaking the news to supporters of Portland Piano International, the recital series Gray founded and led for more than three decades, current director Bill Crane summarized Gray’s career highlights:

45 years ago, as a fresh, young new professor of piano at Portland State University, Harold felt it important that his students and the wider community be given the opportunity to hear the great music of the classical piano played by its greatest performers and, thus, founded the PSU Piano Recital Series. He directed the series artistically for 35 years, convinced the very greatest artists from all around the world to come to our town for recitals, shepherded it through many changes when it became Portland Piano International, and was unfailingly encouraging to all who have kept this star in Portland’s musical scene bright and shiny.

Gray retired from PPI after the 2012-13 season. Crane listed some of Gray’s legacies:

▪ Innumerable students at PSU, and later privately, many of whom have gone on to great careers, some as teachers, some even as teachers of teachers

▪ Decades of astonishing collaborations for thrilling concerts with colleagues Carol Sindell and Hamilton Cheifetz in The Florestan Trio, resident ensemble at PSU

▪ His scores of dramatic, brilliant performances here and around the world, for Harold was a very great pianist himself

▪ Some 300 stupendous concert artists brought to Lincoln Hall to thrill audiences in deep ways, often in ways hard to describe; the entire canon of great piano literature, plus exciting new pieces, played for an exceptional audience

▪ Boundless ideas (a summer festival!, other venues) and patience (chairing PSU’s music department for several years), and energy (multiple recordings, long teaching hours)

▪ In everything he did, an uncanny graciousness, probably because of his Southern upbringing

Harold’s legacy is broad and deep and good. We can most honor him by listening even more intently, by inviting others to share in this music’s glory. Those of us who are pianists can get back to a better practice regimen! Harold would want us to keep the music going.

Florestan Memories

In 1977, Sindell and Cheifetz were already playing in a trio and teaching in Wisconsin when they learned that Portland State had decided to hire a resident piano trio. Their then-pianist didn’t want to move to Portland, and the chair of the PSU music department recommended Gray, then teaching in Illinois. “We met near Chicago and spent the day rehearsing together,” Cheifetz remembers. “It felt natural to play with Harold. And also he seemed like a sane human being, reasonable, easy to get along with.” 

They impressed the PSU administrators, who spent a year putting together funding to bring the trio to Portland. “It was an ambitious and surprising step for the [small] music department,” Cheifetz says, “a change in direction toward performance. The hope was that we were going to build the program and attract good string players and pianists.” They did.

And they embarked on a three-decade run that ended only with Gray’s retirement from the school (the trio continues with his successor, Janet Guggenheim). Cheifetz called Gray:

The ideal colleague: a kind and thoughtful person, patient, very consistent as a musician, steady. Carol and I are a bit more temperamental than Harold was. Sometimes we’d be acting out, and Harold would sit there quietly watching this go back and forth. He was brought up in Georgia to be a very polite person. It helped to level things out in the group.

While Gray could perform solo repertoire at the highest levels, Sindell says he was also “a magnificent ensemble player, always supportive, very sensitive and collaborative in his approach. He was a team player and a joy to play with.”

Along with their onstage camaraderie, Sindell and Cheifetz fondly remember their touring experiences with Gray. “Touring tests the mettle of friends and colleagues,” Sindell explains. “I don’t ever remember seeing Harold lose his cool, or be a diva. I cannot recall a time that Harold lost his temper. Harold always kept his composure, even under the most trying circumstances.” 

For instance, back before sushi was common in American restaurants, the trio — none of whom spoke Japanese — were on a Japanese bullet train, hungry, when they noticed a young woman rolling a cart down the aisle, singing a Japanese song and selling food in containers. Gray pointed to what looked like a bowl of green tea ice cream, bought it — and gulped a dollop of what turned out to be wasabi. 

“His face turned all sorts of colors,” Cheifetz remembers, and he rushed off to the restroom. The young cart monger tried mightily to maintain Japanese politesse, stifling her laughter. “Carol and I had no such decorum,” Cheifetz cheerfully confessed.

Sensitive Teacher

The social qualities — patience, amiability, supportiveness and the rest — that helped make Gray such a valued musical collaborator also enriched his faculty work as teacher and administrator at Portland State.

For generations, many classical music pedagogues from the European conservatory tradition were notorious for their demanding, even abusive teaching practices. “A lot of us have had teachers who were sometimes kind of harsh, brutally honest,” Cheifetz explains:

Not because they were mean, they just didn’t believe in compliments. That can make it hard to keep your confidence. Some students would not be able to take it. Harold’s experience [as a piano student] was much healthier. He had come from teachers who were very nurturing. At PSU, students required different approaches depending on abilities and personalities, and Harold always was sensitive to their needs and differences, very nurturing.

Cheifetz added that that same warm sensitivity and thoughtfulness helped Gray navigate the varied personalities and demands of other faculty members and administrators during his tenure as department chair, setting a relaxed tone that permeated the department. And it also served him well in creating what became Portland Piano International. 

“I remember when he was trying to get that series off the ground,” Cheifetz recalls. “That involved spending a lot of time with potential donors and supporters. You can’t possibly make that kind of thing work with just ticket sales. I remember being a little bit in awe of how hard he was working to make that happen. That series became one of the treasures of Portland.”

Sponsor

Even after he handed the reins to successors, Gray always stood out at the PPI recitals and receptions I attended, as much for his radiant affability as for his height. A longtime Buddhist and regular meditator, he exuded a groundedness, a placidity that drew others to him. His positive influences on Oregon’s music scene extended even beyond PSU and PPI. For instance, he was the instigator behind Stephanie & Saar’s valuable annual summer Makrokosmos music festival.

In all his professional and personal spheres, Gray’s calm generosity never varied. “He was pretty much himself all the time,” Sindell says, onstage and off:

As a professional musician, he had many wonderful qualities. But in addition to that, his personality was so winning and charming. Harold was so genuine, so affable, calm, supportive, generous, kind. He had a deep understanding of how people were wired, and was very sensitive to that. He would always go out of his way to consider other people’s feelings. He was a diplomat, a problem solver, not judgmental, always open to discussion and other people’s points of view.

After Gray retired from PSU and Florestan, Sindell and Cheifetz didn’t see him nearly as much. But a few months ago, they decided “let’s take Harold out for a drink and talk about the old days,” Cheifetz remembers. “We knew he was having a hard time. [His longtime partner] Mary [Kogen] had died. He had health issues of his own. So we took him to Higgins [restaurant] and spent an evening reminiscing about these crazy things had happened in Japan, all the old times. His sly sense of humor was still there. We all had a great time.” 

Sindell is grateful the old team had that final opportunity to reconvene and resume the affectionate interplay that characterized their performances and their relationship. “Even after not seeing each other for a long time, it was like picking up a conversation from the day before,” Sindell says. “It was so wonderful to experience his humor again. That’s another thing that gets people through years of a relationship. We laughed a lot and just enjoyed each other’s company.”

“Since he died, I have only heard kind words about Harold,” Cheifetz says. “Everybody loved Harold — colleagues, students, friends. How many people can say that? I think Harold lived a really good life.”

A Marvelous Mentor, by Pat Zagelow

I was fortunate enough to study piano with Harold for 10 years as a private student and then at the age of 39 I enrolled as a music major at PSU and benefitted from three more years under his tutelage. I was the envy of all my musical friends, as Harold was considered THE piano teacher in town. 

Still today, when I sit down at the piano, I hear Harold’s voice offering invaluable words of wisdom on how to make a certain musical passage better or how to play a difficult chord. Harold didn’t just make vague suggestions like “play with more feeling,” as a previous piano teacher of mine had done. He actually demonstrated techniques to help his students improve. Of course, that makes sense because he was such a fine pianist himself. On occasion I would have the privilege of turning pages for Harold during his Florestan Trio performances. For me, those were invaluable opportunities to learn even more from him by observing his playing up close. 

While I attribute much of my facility at the keyboard to Harold, I also owe him my career as an arts administrator. I’ll never forget when I told Harold that I wanted to enroll as a student at PSU to complete a music degree. He asked me what I wanted to do after I received that degree, and I answered something along the lines of wanting to combine my years of experience running a small business with music. He immediately said, “Oh, you mean arts management,” to which I replied, “Sounds good. What is it?” 

After my graduation, Harold pretty much single handedly arranged my selection as Executive Director (“Manager” at that time) of both the PSU Piano Recital Series (later Portland Piano International) and Friends of Chamber Music, starting me on a path of arts management that has now lasted for more than 30 years. Harold was a master at seeing the potential in people and helping to steer them in the right direction. I’m so fortunate to be one of those people who benefitted from his foresight and mentorship.

While working alongside Harold at Portland Piano International for 17 years, I was constantly amazed at his infinite knowledge of pianists, old and new, and his impeccable artistic taste. It was clear to me that he, and his beloved series, were well respected throughout the country. Just last year, I had the privilege of interviewing the iconic pianist Richard Goode, who Harold presented on his piano series many years ago. One of the first things Mr. Goode asked me in our conversation was how Harold was doing, even though he hadn’t seen or talked to him for probably 20 years. Harold’s reputation was (and still is) legendary among pianists.

One of Harold’s dreams was to build on his wonderful piano series to develop a summer festival with an educational focus that could benefit all the amazing piano teachers in our area. His incredible knowledge of pianists coupled with his creative vision led to the creation of a piano festival that rivaled any in the piano world. I felt so privileged to help him implement that vision, and I think some of his proudest moments were seeing the joy that festival brought to the community.

“Gracious” and “true gentleman” will always be words we associate with Harold, but there are so many more: teacher, mentor, visionary, artist, for a few — and most of all, friend. You will be sorely missed, dear friend.

Pat Zagelow is Executive Director for Friends of Chamber Music and Executive Director for Portland Piano International 1991-2008.

Gentle Wisdom, by Lisa Marsh

As an undergraduate student at Portland State University, I had the privilege of studying piano with Harold Gray. I could not believe my good fortune! I would be studying with a kind and caring teacher who was also a virtuoso performer. My life’s musical journey began at that point. I remember Harold agreeing to any outrageous piece I wanted to play- including Beethoven’s Sonata Opus 110 for my senior recital. I have a distinct memory of Harold attending a live show I did with our rock band “Metro Dog.” He was there cheering me on, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to sing an X cover and then play a Beethoven sonata. A gentleman and a scholar, Harold gave me freedom and direction. His expansive vision of music continued as he embraced jazz improvisation in his later years.

Watching Harold play with the Florestan Trio was to witness effortless artistry. His hands at the keyboard were a blur as he executed every passage with clarity and expression. I could not imagine a better role model as a student.

When I returned to PSU for my graduate studies, I again had the honor of studying with Harold. His reputation as a pillar of the musical community had grown with his creation of the Piano Recital series and the Piano Festival. For all his local and regional fame, Harold never shortchanged his students. He was a consistent, loving, musical force in all our lives.

I heard the Carl Vine Piano Sonata at the Piano Recital series and became obsessed with learning it. Although it was a bit beyond my reach, Harold never discouraged me. After a somewhat dismal play through of this piece two weeks before my graduate recital, Harold paused for a very long time before commenting. This was a skill he had— deep listening and thoughtful speaking. I believe this was enhanced by his study of Buddhism and his meditation practice. I was certain he would express disappointment. Instead, he remarked: “Lisa, we are not at Carnegie Hall yet.” That simple statement brought humor and relief. We both knew I would never make it to Carnegie Hall. At least I was able to be in the present moment and understand the scope of the performance I was preparing for. The piece seemed easier after that. 

Upon graduating from PSU, I was hired by Harold to direct PSU’s Coordinate Movement Program. We had hatched a plan to offer courses to help musicians recover from and avoid injury. This unique wellness program for musicians exists because of Harold Gray. He was the single most influential force in my musical and professional life, as well as a very dear friend. Since his passing, I find myself asking frequently “What would Harold do? What would Harold say?”

His gentle wisdom lives on.

Lisa Marsh, is a Portland composer, pianist, member of the adjunct piano faculty at Portland State University, and director of PSU’s Coordinate Movement Program.

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