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JB Floyd (né James Robert Floyd; born June 2, 1929) is an American concert pianist (jazz, classical, experimental, avant-garde, and the like), composer, and music pedagogue at the collegiate level. Before retiring in 2013, Floyd spent 64 years as a music educator in higher education, including as chairman of keyboard performance at Northern Illinois University from 1962 to 1981 and chairman of keyboard performance at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music from 1982 to 2013. Floyd is a Yamaha Artist.

Education

Floyd earned a Bachelor of Music in 1948 and a Master of Music in 1950 from the University of North Texas (College of Music). While at North Texas, he studied piano with Isabel and Silvio Scionti. In the 1950s, at the University of Corpus Christi, Floyd became head of the Department of Music, then Chairman of the Fine Arts Division. In Fall 1949, Floyd joined the music faculty of the University of Kentucky as piano instructor. He also served on the music faculty of Sam Houston State University.

Career

Floyd, in 1949, was a grand winner of the National Guild of Piano Teachers Young Artist Competition at Town Hall in New York City. The award led to a sponsored solo recital at Town Hall, Wednesday, 8:30 pm, April 9, 1952. Harold C. Schonberg (1915–2003), a music critic for The New York Times, reviewed the performance. Floyd went on to earn a DMA in 1961 from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.

In 1962, Floyd joined the music faculty at the University of Northern Illinois. In 1981, Floyd joined the faculty at the University of Miami. He taught there for 32 years, retiring as Chair Emeritus in 2013 while serving as Chair of the University of Miami's Department of Keyboard Performance.

Selected discography

• JB Floyd Trio at the Catacombs (jazz). JB Floyd (piano); Fred Atwood (bass); Dave Merrifield (drums); Tony Calzaretta, vocalist. Claremont Records (1966). Claremont Jazz Series CLP–666, Castle Productions, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
• Suitable for Framing. David Rosenboom, JB Floyd, and Trichy Sankaran, A.R.C. Records (1975). OCLC 979580623 (all editions).
• Vol. 18, CDCM Computer Music Series, The Composer in the Computer Age–III. Centaur Records (1994). OCLC 31869526 (all editions). (Note: CDCM is an acronym for the Consortium to Distribute Computer Music).
• Vol. 19, CDCM Computer Music Series, The Composer in the Computer Age-IV: A Larry Austin Retrospective, Centaur Records (1995). OCLC 778855783 (all editions).
• Salvatore Martirano: "O, O, O, O, That Shakespeherian Rag. New World Records (1996). OCLC 162136581 (all editions).
• A Transporting Transmittance (CD), Mutable Music, label of Thomas Buckner (May 2003); OCLC 166266796 (all editions).
• In Crossing The Busy Street (CD), Mutable Music (2009); OCLC 457181264.
• Another Time And Place (CD), Mutable Music (2011); OCLC 773026916 (all editions).

Selected publications

• "Beethoven's Piano Sonata, Op. 111 In Its Historical Perspective" (Master of Music thesis), by James Robert Floyd, University of North Texas, College of Music (1950); OCLC 40814324
• "The keyboard music of Pergolesi" (Giovanni Battista Pergolesi) (DMA dissertation), by James Robert Floyd, Indiana University Bloomington, Jacobs School of Music (1961); OCLC 30933844

Bibliography

Notes

1. "Pianist, Composer ... " June 5, 2013.
2. Texas Birth Certificate.
3. "Renaissance Man" August 8, 2003.
4. "Classical Pianists".
5. Commencement, North Texas, August 25, 1950.
6. Denton Record-Chronicle, April 27, 1952.
7. "Teachers ..." March 1959.
8. Corpus Christi Times, January 2, 1952.
9. National Guild Page, 1962.
10. Schonberg, April 10, 1952.
11. J.B. Floyd Trio, 1966.
12. Couture.

References

• "Classical Pianists – JB Floyd – Biography". Buena Park, California: Yamaha Corporation of America. Piano Division. n.d. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
• Commencement, North Texas (August 25, 1950). "James Robert Floyd". Summer Commencement of North Texas State College (program). Denton: University of North Texas. p. 17. Retrieved March 19, 2021 – via University of North Texas Libraries, Digital Library.
• The Corpus Christi Times; Bynum, Kay (January 2, 1952). "Robert Floyd Is Ready for His Big Recital". Vol. 42, no. 155. p. B1. Retrieved October 3, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. (article provides early biographical information). ISSN 0894-5365. LCCN sn84006195. OCLC 10863206.
• Couture, François (2003). Transporting Transmittance: Music of J.B. Floyd (album review). AllMusic.

• Denton Record-Chronicle (April 27, 1952). "N.Y. Newspapers Hail Floyd Debut". Vol. 49, no. 212. p. 2. Retrieved March 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. "Floyd studied with Isabel and Silvio Scionti ..."

• J.B. Floyd Trio (1966). At the Catacombs (LP vinyl record). Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: Castle Productions. Claremont Records. Claremont Jazz Series – CLP–666 – via Discogs release no. 10524085. J.B. Floyd (piano); Fred Atwood (né Fred Connell Atwood; born 1937) (bass); Dave Merrifield (né David Kay Merrifield; born 1937) (drums); Tony Calzaretta (né Anthony John Calzaretta; born 1940), vocalist (Claremont was a label of Vernon Charles Castle; 1928–2008).

• National Guild Page (September–October 1962). "Robert Floyd to Give Town Hall Recital". American Music Teacher (front matter). 12 (1). Music Teachers National Association: 44. JSTOR 43536575. Retrieved March 22, 2021 – via JSTOR. ISSN 0003-0112. OCLC 494567442.

• "Pianist, Composer and Educator JB Floyd Retires From Frost School of Music". University of Miami, Frost School of Music, Media, Frost News. June 5, 2013. Archived from the original on June 20, 2017. Originally retrieved October 3, 2017

• "Renaissance Man: JB Floyd". Buena Park, California: Yamaha Corporation of America. Piano Division. August 8, 2003. Retrieved October 26, 2011.

• Schonberg, Harold Charles (April 10, 1952). "Robert Floyd Gives First Recital Here". Amusements. The New York Times (review). Vol. 101, whole no. 34410. p. L37 (column 3 of 8, top). Retrieved March 19, 2021 – via TimesMachine.

• "Teachers Go to Work". Music Educators Journal. 45 (4). National Association for Music Education: 12. February–March 1959. JSTOR 3389055 – via JSTOR. ISSN 0027-4321 (print). ISSN 1945-0087 (web). LCCN 2006-236975. OCLC 1639434 (all editions).
• Texas Birth Certificate – "James Robert Floyd" – "Amendment to Certificate of Birth". "Texas Birth Index, 1903–1997". Searching James Robert Floyd → DOB: June 2, 1929 → Place of birth: Tyler, Smith County (database with images). Austin: Texas Department of State Health Services. Retrieved March 19, 2021 – via FamilySearch. Reference ID: 51919; GS film no. 2240970; digital folder no. 4688276; image no. 285 (of 3534); indexing project (batch) no. C06136-3.

External links

• JB Floyd official website

• 1929 births
• 20th-century American male musicians
• 20th-century American classical pianists
• 21st-century American male musicians
• 21st-century American classical pianists
• American male classical pianists
• Classical musicians from Florida
• Classical musicians from Texas
• Jacobs School of Music alumni
• Living people
• Musicians from Miami
• Northern Illinois University faculty
• Musicians from Tyler, Texas
• University of Miami faculty
• University of North Texas College of Music alumni