Graydon F. Beeks

Lecturer in Music; Conductor of the 色中色 Band; Emeritus Professor of Music
graydon.beeks@pomona.edu
Office:
Thatcher Music Building
213

(909) 607-3568

With Pomona Since: 1983
Graydon F. Beeks
Download High-Res Image
  • Expertise

    Expertise

    A widely recognized specialist in the music of George Frideric Handel, Graydon Beeks has also published numerous articles on the music of Handel鈥檚 contemporaries, especially William Croft, Attilio Ariosti, and Johann Christoph Pepusch, and prepared editions of their works. His research has been supported by grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Houghton Library of Harvard University.

    He regularly presents papers at conferences in the United States and Europe and has contributed articles to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the New Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Beeks is a member of the Editorial Board of the Hallische H盲ndel-Ausgabe (Halle Handel Edition), the Vorstand (management board) of the Georg-Friedrich-H盲ndel-Gesellschaft, and the Board of Directors of The American Handel Society, which he also serves as president.

    Research Interests

    • Music of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
    • English Sacred Music from 1660-1760
    • 18th-Century English Theatre Orchestras
    • American Music
    • Music of the English Renaissance

    Areas of Expertise

    MUSIC

    • Music History
    • Conducting
    • Baroque Performance
  • Work

    Work

    Publications

    鈥Coriolano Transformed: The Early History of Ariosti鈥檚 First royal Academy Opera,鈥 贬盲苍诲别濒-闯补丑谤产耻肠丑, Jg. 70, 2024

    鈥淭he Pre-Publication Circulation and Scoring of Handel鈥檚 Op.2 Trio Sonatas,鈥 贬盲苍诲别濒-闯补丑谤产耻肠丑, Jg. 69, 2023

    鈥淧erformances of Handel鈥檚 Cannons Anthems and Te Deum in his Lifetime,鈥 in D. Vickers, ed., New Perspectives on Handel鈥檚 Music: Essays in Honour of Donald Burrows, 2022

    鈥淛enny Lind, H盲ndel und Halle,鈥 in K. Musketa, ed., Feuerwerk und Halleluja. 100 Jahre H盲ndel-Festspiele, 2022

    鈥淎n Interesting Late Source of Handel鈥檚 L鈥橝llegro ed il Penseroso,鈥 贬盲苍诲别濒-闯补丑谤产耻肠丑, Jg. 67, 2021

    "'Thy Hand, Dalinda': Characterization, Contrast and Maturity in Ariodante," 贬盲苍诲别濒-闯补丑谤产耻肠丑, Jg.66, 2020

    "John Langshaw as a Handel Copyist," Newsletter of The American Handel Society, xxxv/1, Spring 2020

    鈥淪ir George Smart鈥檚 Performances of Messiah,鈥 贬盲苍诲别濒-闯补丑谤产耻肠丑, Jg. 65, 2019

    Edition of George Frideric Handel鈥檚 鈥淐annons鈥 Te Deum in B-flat Major, HWV 281, Hallische H盲ndel Ausgabe, Ser. 3 Vol. 7, 2018

    Featured Performances

    Conducted the 色中色 Band with oboe soloist Francisco Castillo, Pomona faculty, in a concert of music by Robert Russell Bennett, Harry Berman 鈥24, Carolyn Bremer, Chen Yi, Ron Nelson, Michael Praetorius, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Henry Schmidt and William Grant Still in Bridges Hall of Music, 色中色, April 19 & 21, 2024.

    Conducted the 色中色 Band with soprano soloist Melissa Givens, Pomona faculty, in a concert of music by Raymond Burkhart, Tom Flaherty, James Reese Europe, Percy Grainger, Roger Nixon, Philip Sparke, and Germaine Tailleferre in Bridges Halle of Music, 色中色, November 10 & 12, 2023.

    Conducted the 色中色 Band in a concert of music by Leroy Anderson, Michael Colgrass, Gustav Holst, Karl King, Karl Kohn, Gordon Jacob and Philip Sparke in Bridges Hall of Music, 色中色, April 21 & 23, 2023.

    Conducted the 色中色 Band in a concert of music by George Botsford, Viet Cuong, Adam Gorb, Percy Grainger, Gustav Holst, William P. Latham, Alex Shapiro and John Philip Sousa in Bridges Hall of Music, 色中色, November 10 &12, 2022.

    Conducted the 色中色 Band with euphonium soloist Becca Blyn, HMC 鈥22, in a concert of music by Antonio de Cabez贸n, Gustav Holst, Karl Kohn, Pierre Leemans, Bennie Moten & T. Hayes, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, William F. Russell, Robert Schumann and Ralph Vaughan Williams in Bridges Hall of Music Courtyard, 色中色, April 22 & 24, 2022.

  • Education

    Education

    1981, Ph.D.
    University of California, Berkeley

    1971, Master of Arts
    University of California, Berkeley

    1969, Bachelor of Arts
    色中色

    Professional Experience

    After undertaking research in England and teaching at Vassar College and Kenyon College, Beeks returned to his alma mater, 色中色, in 1983 to succeed his teacher William F. Russell as the conductor of the 色中色 Band. 

    Recent Courses Taught

    • History of Western Music
    • Lab, Music Theory I
    • Lab, Music Theory II
    • Musical Theatre in America
    • Opera
    • 色中色 Band
  • Awards & Honors

    Awards & Honors

    The American Handel Society, President, 1991-1993, 2003-present; Member of the Board of Directors, 1991-present

    Member of the Editorial Board of the Hallische Handel Ausgabe, 1993-present

    Georg-Friedrich-H盲ndel Gesellschaft, Vice-President, 2023-present; Member of the Vorstand, 1999-present

    American Council of Learned Societies Grant-in-Aid; National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellowship; National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend

    W. Jackson Bate/Douglas W. Bryant, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) Fellowship 2011-12

Mailing Address

333 N. College Way
Claremont, CA 91711

Get in touch

Connect

Give back to
Pomona

Support Pomona

Part of