This collection contains materials directly relating to the career of musician and educator, Joan Benson; a specialist in the clavichord and fortepiano. Among the many items preserved are sound recordings with Benson as performer, extensive files of correspondence, concert programs, miscellaneous ephemera, files from her teaching career, and music scores to contemporary works dedicated to Benson.

Joan Benson (1925-2020) was an American keyboard player and music professor specializing in the clavichord and fortepiano. In her early years, Benson received formal training in music at the University of Illinois before travelling to Switzerland in 1953 to study with the pianist and pedagogue Edwin Fischer. While in Europe, she received instruction from notable musicians such as Oliver Messiaen, Viola Thern, Guido Agosti, Fritz Neumeyer, Ruggero Gerlin, and Macario Santiago Kastner. Through various influences, Benson became interested in early music and the clavichord. Returning to the United States in the 1960s, she recorded a successful album for the Repertoire record label of clavichord music and followed with a debut on the same instrument at the Carmel Bach Festival in 1963. In addition to the many concerts over the next decades that followed, Benson also devoted time as Professor of Music and faculty at Stanford University, the University of Oregon, and the Aston Magna Festival. She was later credited with the revival of the fortepiano as a performance instrument and the renewed interest in the works of C.P.E. Bach.

13.26 Linear Feet (12) box(es); (1) oversize folder

All requests to reproduce, publish, broadcast, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head Librarian, Archive of Recorded Sound, Braun Music Center, Stanford, California 94305. Consent is given on behalf of the Archive of Recorded Sound as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns.

Open for research; material must be requested at least three business days in advance of intended use. Contact the Archive of Recorded Sound for assistance.