Henry Lowell Mason

Biography

Named after his grandfather Lowell Mason, Henry Lowell Mason completed his studies at Phillips Exeter Academy and spent three years at Harvard University studying history, fine arts, philosophy, and finance. Having learned violin in his youth, he studied music theory under John K. Paine at Harvard and perfected his piano and organ playing under H. B. Chelius, while also benefiting from close association with his uncle, Dr. William Mason. In 1890 he was invited to play organ in a matinee concert at which Arthur Nikisch presided at the piano. Entering the family business under his father Henry Mason, he took charge of the artist department of the Mason and Hamlin Company, where he introduced pianist Harold Bauer to the American public in 1890, directed Martinus Sieveking's 1892 US tour, Ossip Gabrilowitsch's 1905-6 tour, and Katherine Goodson's 1907 tour, helping keep the Mason and Hamlin piano prominent on the concert platform.

Highlights

• Educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard, studying music theory under John K. Paine and piano/organ under H. B. Chelius
• Played organ in an 1890 matinee concert at which Arthur Nikisch presided at the piano
• As head of Mason and Hamlin's artist department, introduced Harold Bauer to America (1890) and directed US tours for Martinus Sieveking (1892), Ossip Gabrilowitsch (1905-6), and Katherine Goodson (1907)

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), p. 154.

Public domain.