Pietro Yon
| Pietro A. Yon | |
|---|---|
Pietro Yon, 1918
|
|
| Born |
August 8, 1886 Settimo Vittone, (Piedmont, Italy) |
| Died | November 22, 1943 (aged 57) Huntington, New York |
| Nationality | Italy and USA |
| Known for | organ virtuoso and composer |
Pietro Alessandro Yon (August 8, 1886 – November 22, 1943) was an Italian-born organist and composer who made his career in the United States.
Yon was born in Settimo Vittone, (Piedmont, Italy), and studied at the conservatories of both Milan and Turin, also attending the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome; among his teachers in Milan was Polibio Fumagalli. He served for a time as an organist at the Vatican and at the Royal Church in Rome.
In the spring of 1907, Father John B. Young, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Manhattan, was in Rome on Vatican business and additionally to seek out a replacement for his organist Gaston Dethier, who was leaving to pursue a concert career. Upon hearing Yon play, Father Young was sufficiently impressed to offer him a three-year contract. Thus Yon at age 21 came to the United States, where from 1907 until 1926 he was the organist of St. Francis Xavier Church. He joined his brother S. Constantino Yon, who had preceded him and held a similar position at St. Vincent Ferrer Church.
In 1914, Pietro and Constantino Yon opened the Yon Music Studios in Carnegie Hall, a conservatory for aspiring liturgical musicians utilizing a small number of instructors whose work he respected. Pietro would head the organ department while Constantino was in charge of the vocalists.
In 1919, when Yon was married to Francesca Pesagno, the organist for the occasion was one of Yon's newest friends, the Belgian-American virtuoso Charles M. Courboin who had been chosen to rededicate the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia, now enlarged to 17,000 pipes and still the largest operational organ in the world. In 1920, Yon would share the stage at Wanamaker's with Courboin, Leopold Stokowski, and the Philadelphia Orchestra in one of the gala organ recitals performed at the store through the 1920s.
...
Wikipedia