Gaston Marie Dethier was an American organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

, pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

, and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of Belgian birth. Born in Liège

Liège

Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....

, he was the son of organist Emile Dethier, the brother of violinist Edouard Dethier

Edouard Dethier

Edouard Charles Louis Dethier was a Belgian classical violinist and teacher of the violin. He was a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and New York Symphony orchestras as well as extensively touring the United States and Canada as a recitalist. From 1906, he also taught violin at the Juilliard...

, and the uncle of physiologist Vincent Dethier

Vincent Dethier

Vincent Gaston Dethier was an American physiologist and entomologist. Considered a leading expert in his field, he was a pioneer in the study of insect-plant interactions and wrote over 170 academic papers and 15 science books. From 1975 until his death, he was the Gilbert L...

. He studied at the Royal Conservatory in his native city with Alexandre Guilmant

Alexandre Guilmant

Félix-Alexandre Guilmant was a French organist and composer.- Short biography :Guilmant was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer...

. He was awarded premiers prix in organ, piano, harmony, and fugue from the conservatory.

In 1886, at just 11 years of age, Dethier was appointed organist at the Église Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur de Liège. He eventually left there to work in the same capacity at the Église Saint-Christophe de Liège. He emigrated to the United States in 1894 where he eventually became a naturalized citizen. He was organist at The Church of St. Francis Xavier from 1894 until 1907. He taught organ on the faculty of the Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

 from 1907 until 1945. Among his notable pupils were Ray Lev

Ray Lev

Ray Lev was an American classical pianist. One year after her birth in Rostov na Donau, Russia, her father, a synagogue cantor, and mother, a concert singer, brought her to the United States.-Life:...

, Marcelle Martin, Carl McKinley

Carl McKinley

Carl McKinley was an American composer of classical music. Born in Maine, he spent some time in Paris on a Guggenheim Fellowship. He studied music at Harvard University, and was granted a Naumberg Fellowship to study in New York City for the 1917-1918 school year. There he worked with Rubin...

, Georges-Émile Tanguay

Georges-Émile Tanguay

Georges-Émile Tanguay was a Canadian composer, organist, pianist, and music educator. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output is relatively small; consisting of 4 orchestral works, 4 chamber music pieces, 9 works for solo piano, 2 works for solo organ, and 4 choral works...

, and Powell Weaver.

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