John W. Downey (1927-2004) was a contemporary classical composer, conductor, pianist and educator, who earned an international reputation, having his works performed around the world, extensively in Western and Eastern Europe, South America, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, Israel, Asia, Mexico and Canada, as well as throughout the United States.
A native of Chicago, Downey earned a Bachelor of Music degree from DePaul University and a Master of Music from the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University, while working at night as a jazz pianist. Downey was later awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study with his mentors Honegger, Milhaud and Boulanger in Paris where he earned a Prix de Composition from the Paris Conservatoire National de Musique and a Ph.D.(Docteur es Lettres) from the University of Paris Sorbonne. Given the honorable title of “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” for his scholarly achievements, Downey was knighted by the French government in 1980.
Downey inspired students of music, composition and theory at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for 35 years, before retiring in 1998 as Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music. He was Founder and Director of the Wisconsin Contemporary Music Forum as well as Director of Theory for the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Downey was the recipient of many prestigious honors and commissions, some of which are from the National Endowment for the Arts, Ford Foundation, ASCAP, Copley Foundation, Millay Colony, Moebius Foundation, MacDowell, Hartt School of Music, Rutgers University, Butler University, University of Wisconsin, Bennington College, Lawrence University, Fine Arts Quartet, Woodwind Arts Quartet, Milwaukee Symphony, Wisconsin Arts Board, Milwaukee Youth Symphony, MacDowell Club of Milwaukee and Wisconsin String Academy. His recording Agort was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1973. In 1990, the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters bestowed upon Downey the Walter Heinrichsen Award.
Author of La Musique populaire dans l’Oeuvre de Bela Bartok, Downey is listed in Who’s Who in America, the International Who’s Who in Music, Dictionary of International Biography, Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, and The New Grove Dictionary of American Music.
