The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Pianist Howard Karp, who taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has died at 84.

By Jacob Stockinger

Late last night, The Ear received the following message and photographs from Parry Karp, who teaches cello at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music and who performs with the Pro Arte String Quartet:

“On Monday morning June 30, 2014 pianist and UW-Madison Emeritus Professor Howard Karp died at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colorado, of complications of cardiac arrest. He was 84, and was surrounded by his wife Frances and his two sons Parry and Christopher.”

Here are Frances and Howard Karp on June 22, 2014:

Here are Howard Karp and Parry Karp on New Year’s Eve, 2013.

Here is Howard Karp in 2000, in a photo taken by Katrin Talbot, the wife of Parry Karp.

Here are the hands of Howard Karp in a photo taken by Katrin Talbot:

Here is Howard Karp at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 1968:

Here is Howard Karp ca. 1958:

Here is Howard Karp ca. 1955:

And here is Howard Karp ca. 1942:

I will have more to say about the gifted performer and teacher Howard Karp, and so will the many students and friends he had in Madison and elsewhere during his long career.

But please leave your recollections and memories as well as condolences and good wishes in the REPLY or COMMENT section.

In the meantime, here is an excerpt, a movement from a sonata by Franz Schubert, from the 6-CD retrospective of live recordings by Howard Karp that was released on May 31 by Albany Records: