Collection Overview
Howard Wilson (1913-1962 or 63) was Associate Professor of Piano at FSU. The Howard Wilson collection consists of one folder of memorabilia and 42 compositions, primarily manuscript solo and chamber works. Included are several settings of poetry by Audrey Wilson, Howard’s wife, and herself a professor in the humanities department at FSU.
Wilson was born in 1913 in Rhode Island and spent his early life in Newport. He entered the Yale School of Music in 1930, and in 1936 traveled to London to study with Nicolai Medtner and Paul Corder. In 1938 he became an instructor of piano and theory at Ohio State University, where he remained until he was called in to army service in 1942.
He was stationed overseas in 1944-1946, and while there organized and headed the piano department of the Biarritz American University in France. After his discharge in 1946, he resigned his post at Ohio State to study at the University of London, where he earned his Ph.D in 1948. He joined the faculty at FSU in 1949, where he remained until his death.