William H Sherwood

William Hall Sherwood was a late 19th and early 20th century American pianist and music educator who, after having studied in Europe with notable musicians, became one of the first renowned piano performers in the United States. He founded the Sherwood Music School, which was acquired by Columbia College Chicago in 2007.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on William Hall Sherwood.

From the period sources

William H. Sherwood, an esteemed American pianist, composer, and teacher, was born in Lyons, New York, in 1854. His early musical training began with his father and W. Mason, before he embarked on extensive studies in Europe (Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1886). In 1871, he studied in Berlin under Theodor Kullak, a “pianist and pedagogue of exceptional attainments” (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1900), and Weitzmann. Further studies took him to Stuttgart under C. Doppler and to London with F. Scotson Clark, and he also spent time under L. Deppe and Richter (Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1886).

Sherwood performed successfully in Germany before returning to America in 1876, where he appeared at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and subsequently in principal American cities. He was recognized as one of America’s leading pianists and teachers, settling in Boston and later Chicago, where he founded the Sherwood Piano School in 1897 (Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1886; Grove’s American Supplement, 1920). His pupils included notable figures like Clayton Johns, who studied piano with Sherwood for three years in Boston (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1900). Sherwood, who married the able pianist Mary Fay, composed a number of piano pieces and was a Fellow of the American College of Musicians (Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1886).