Dr. Frank Pascale Tirro, devoted husband, father, grandfather, and colleague, passed from this life to the life eternal on March 28, 2021. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, of Italian immigrant parents Mary and Frank Tirro, and attended Omaha Central High School, where he nurtured the love of music and the arts that his musical family instilled in him. He completed a BA in Music at the University of Nebraska, where he met Charlene Whitney, of Chappell, Nebraska, and the two wed in 1961.
His talents were recognized by the University of Chicago, where he started the Music program for the now-legendary University of Chicago Lab School while still a graduate student. He was chairman of that program from 1963 to 1970. He was a fellow at Harvard in their Florence, Italy program from 1971-2 and he earned his PhD. From the University of Chicago in 1974, with a specialization in late Medieval and Renaissance musicology, because at the time, jazz musicology was not considered a viable academic pursuit. Frank changed that with a now-legendary talk at the Medieval Studies Conference, in which he compared the silent theme in Medieval music to the function of silence in jazz improvisation. At the beginning of his talk, the audience laughed, audibly. At the end, they gave him a standing ovation. That talk went on to be published as “The Silent Theme Tradition in Jazz” in the academic journal The Musical Quarterly and threw open the doors to the academic study of jazz as a serious musical form. Frank went on to be a visiting lecturer at the university of Kansas, then an assistant professor of Music at Duke, then the chair of the Duke Department of Music, the Director of the Southeastern Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, then a professor of Music at Yale and the Dean of its School of Music until 1989. He retired from teaching in 2010.
Frank’s career was characterized by his remarkable care of his colleagues and his natural humility. Though he walked and played with giants like Benny Goodman, Henny Youngman, Dizzy Gillespie, and scores of big band jazz legends, he always took a back seat to let others’ gifts shine. He used his influence to secure many of them as visiting performers in the Yale School of Music to raise the profile of the academic study of jazz. His Jazz: A History (Norton, 1977), which went on to be translated into Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish, was the first modern history of jazz and became a foundational text in the field. He continued to publish in both Medieval and Renaissance studies as well as the field of Jazz musicology he helped to found. Always with a generous educator’s heart, he co-authored multiple editions of the textbook Humanities: Cultural Roots and Continuities, and Living With Jazz, as well as his later monographs The Birth of the Cool: Miles Davis and His Associates (2009) and With Trumpet and Bible: The Illustrated Life of James Hembray Wilson (2012). As a son of Italian immigrants, he understood fundamentals about how race and discrimination worked, but he dedicated his life to leveling barriers and raising up the musical contributions of Black Americans and all lovers of that uniquely American form, jazz, born out of their experiences as a gift to all. He contributed to 38 biographies of jazz greats for the World Book Encyclopedia, 8 entries on Medieval and Renaissance composers for the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, as well as dozens of articles on jazz, late medieval music, and other facets of musicology throughout his career.
Frank was also a composer, with American Jazz Te Deum, American Jazz Mass, Sing a New Song, Melismas for Carillon, and Church Sonata for Organ to his published credit. His submission for the Nebraska state anthem, “Nebraska,” used native American themes and celebrated Nebraska’s rich agricultural heritage: “Nebraska, we sing your praise; …bring the harvest in, raise your voices high.” It was played by the University of Nebraska band.
Devotion is a word bandied about, especially in obituaries, but Frank embodied it. He gave selflessly to his family, most of all to his wife of 60 years Charlene (Whitney) Tirro. His grandchildren Andy and Trevor will always remember trips to the rural countryside of Suffolk, UK, especially Elmswell, with their grandpa, times in New Mexico, or visiting Florence with him. Grandchildren Anna and Jess had the gift of living close by for the last five years and the joy of having him at their musicals, soccer and basketball games, and weekly dinners at North Haven diners. His endless capacity to give to others and his heartfelt desire to celebrate the next generation as part of a greater project for the greater good is captured in a prayer he wrote for a convocation for the Yale School of Music in September, 2010:
We ask that you be with us this evening as we begin our journey to perfect, as best we can, our talents for this heavenly Art of Music. Bless these students and their teachers as they begin their journey together to develop the glories of their voices, to discover the still silent themes of musical composition, and to find the infinite beauties and varieties of sounds of their musical instruments. Help us all to work together to bring new inflections of peace and harmony to this troubled world. Let us join forces and share knowledge that might one day spread the message of great joy that your sacred art possesses. Let these talented women and men become messengers of men and women through all the music within them that truly represents the harmony of the spheres.
Frank was preceded in death by his mother Mary Spensieri Tirro, father Frank Tirro, and brother Richard Tirro. He is survived by his wife Charlene Tirro, his brother-in-law Charles Whitney, his son John Tirro and daughter-in-law Misty Anderson, his daughter Cyndi Hansard and son-in law Dustin Hansard, and grandchildren Anderson Ramey Tirro, Trevor Joseph Tirro, Jess Pascal Hansard, and Anna Grace Hansard. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Yale School of Music “Music in the Schools Initiative” at http://www.yale.edu/givemusic, or to scholarships at the Neighborhood Music School at 100 Audubon Street, New Haven, CT 06510 https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/1392661
I am so sorry to learn this news. I became a fan of Dr. Tirro when I heard his American Jazz Mass in 1969 at an AllState concert, and purchased a vinyl recording of it. I nearly wore out the record, and then it became obsolete, but when CD’s came along a friend transferred the piece to that format for me. I kept looking for a professional recording, without success, and finally found an email address for Dr. Tirro so I could ask him where to find one. He had only a recording from a concert in Italy, and we exchanged CD’s—he approved of the AllState version and I was delighted to have been able to give it to him. When I looked for the sheet music I once again had no luck, so contacted him once more. This time my answer was a thick package of the entire work on my doorstep. I shared my treasure with our Congregational church choir director, and am delighted that we are now rehearsing The Lord’s Prayer for an upcoming (virtual) service. My only regret is that we will not be able to share it with Dr. Tirro. I will be forever grateful to him, and my love and prayers go to his family. —Kathleen McDonald, Bellevue WA
Sandra and I are heartbroken over the death of Frank. Frank and Charlene have been our friends since they came to Yale. We often got together for lunch and visits.
Frank of course was also a gifted performer of jazz and I recall a concert of his at Yale. He also was a publisher of jazz books. His book JAZZ A HISTORY is one he autographed for us which we treasure.
We will miss Frank but he will always be there in our memory.
Sad to hear of this passing. What a well-lived life full of so very much love, learning and giving. Please accept our deepest condolences, John and Misty and your family.
Sending love and healing to Charlene, John, Cyndi, and the whole family. Frank’s was the first jazz history textbook I ever read (an important milestone in my career), and he was kind and generous in offering me some early advice on how to navigate live after graduate school. I will always smile when I think about the many occasions through the years of hearing my teacher Clara Shen recount the fun she had playing duets with Frank, and I hope they are now enjoying the resumption of those joyful music-making sessions.
We are sending our condolences and love to John and Misty, Andy and Trevor, and to the entire family of Frank Tirro. What a beautiful remembrance here for an amazing, accomplished, loving man and what good fortune to have had him in your lives.
Frank was one of the best persons I have ever known. I will always be immensely grateful for his unwavering and generous support which has made such an effect on my life and that of so many others.