Jacob "Jack" Radunsky Papers

Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1910, Jacob “Jack” Radunsky earned a Mus.B. degree from the Chicago Musical College (Roosevelt University) at the age of 18 (1928). In 1934, he received an A.B. degree from the University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin) where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa; and, in 1950 he received an A.M. in philosophy from Columbia University. Mr. Radunsky also studied privately with several renowned piano teachers as well as at the Juilliard School of Music.

From 1931 to 1939, Jack Radunsky maintained a private piano studio in Madison, Wisconsin. During 1937-39, he was the assistant conductor and a coach for the Chautauqua (New York) Opera Company. When the company toured without an orchestra, Mr. Radunsky provided piano accompaniment. There followed five years (1939-43) of managing Junior Programs, Inc., and then another five (1943-47) as a U.S.O. Director.

In 1947, despite having never held a teaching post, Mr. Radunsky was appointed Assistant Professor of Pianoforte at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. He was an immediate and continuing success, becoming Associate Professor (1953-59) and Professor (1959-76) and being in demand as a private teacher until the end of his life. His reputation, which rapidly became national, derived from his absolute dedication to his art and to his students. “He inspired them to work beyond their talent limit; he possessed an intuitive sense of pedagogical psychology” (Shannon). He never gave a concert because he felt an early finger injury prevented his performing at the level he demanded, and he rarely lectured. However, those who knew him well recognized that he possessed a keen sense of practical musical analysis and could play extraordinarily well.

During a sabbatical in 1969-70, Mr. Radunsky prepared a systematic review of the piano chamber music of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms from a performer’s point of view. In 1973-74, he received a grant-in-aid from Oberlin College to work on “The Brahms solo piano works opp. 116-110: a Critico-Historical Edition.”

When he reached mandatory retirement age in 1976, against his own inclinations and the protests of students, Mr. Radunsky became Professor Emeritus of Pianoforte and immediately assumed a part-time teaching position at the Cleveland Institute of Music; he also taught privately in Oberlin. Later he taught at the University of Wisconsin, The University of Illinois, Northwestern University, and Indiana University and frequently was a sabbatical replacement teacher at the Oberlin Conservatory.

In addition to maintaining a heavy teaching schedule, Jack Radunsky was active as a judge in piano competitions: the Young Artist Auditions sponsored by the Oklahoma Symphony (1977), The Three Rivers Competition in Pittsburgh (1977), The Greater Spokane Music and Allied Arts Festival (1978), and the Austin (Texas) competition of the Three Rivers Piano Competition (1979).

Jack Radunsky’s wife, Betty Mae Millard Radunsky (d.1988), was an administrative assistant in the Admissions Office at Oberlin College for thirteen years (1976-89). The couple had three children: David, Michael, and Cynthia Radunsky Rutterley. Jacob “Jack” Radunsky died at his home in Oberlin on August 15, 1995. He was 85. Soon after his death, his family, joined by friends and former colleagues, established a scholarship fund in his name. The income provides funds for an annual scholarship granted to a piano student at the Oberlin Conservatory on the basis of both need and merit.

Sources Consulted

“Family Establishes Radunsky Award.” Oberlin Conservatory News (Spring 1996): 4.

“Jacob Jack Radunsky, Emeritus Professor of Pianoforte.” The Oberlin College Observer (August 31, 1995): 2.

Oberlin College Biographical Form. undated.

Shannon, Robert. Memorial Minute. Jacob “Jack” Radunsky. Oberlin Alumni Magazine. (Spring 1996): 41.

Note written by Elizabeth Brinkman.