author
O. B. (Otis Bardwell) Boise
1844–1912
A gifted American composer, organist, and teacher, he helped bring serious European musical training into American concert and classroom life. His writing on music reflects both deep study and a desire to make the subject clear and approachable.
1 Audiobook
Music and Its Masters
by O. B. (Otis Bardwell) Boise
About the author
Born in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1844, Otis Bardwell Boise became known as an American composer and music educator. As a young musician he studied in Germany, including at Leipzig, and built a career that connected American musical life with the rigorous training of the European conservatory tradition.
Boise worked as an organist, teacher, and composer, and later taught at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. He is especially remembered for orchestral and piano works, church and vocal music, and for helping shape music education in the United States during a period when American classical music was still defining itself.
He also wrote about music for general readers. His book Music and Its Masters shows the same practical, thoughtful spirit found in his teaching: serious about the art, but meant to guide listeners and students rather than overwhelm them. He died in 1912.