Robert Fred Kern

suddenly on August 14, 2020. All who knew the force of his keen intellect and

sharp wit carry the gift of his inspiration within. Fred continually challenged his

students and friends to match the rigor and unstinting work ethic he brought to

everything he did. We are all the better for his belief in us.

Fred was born on November 11, 1944, in Pittsfield, Illinois. His first piano

teachers, Evelyn Ransom, Edna Mae Brown, and his band teacher, Paul E. Rosene,

guided his early musical interests. He went on to earn a B.S. from Illinois State

University, a M.M. from Illinois Wesleyan, a M.M. from Northwestern University,

and a D.M.A. from the University of Northern Colorado. In 2014, he was inducted

into the Illinois State University Woonsok Kim College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame.

A Professor of Music and Specialist in Piano Education at the University of North

Texas in Denton from 1980-2011, Dr. Kern previously taught at William Rainey

Harper College and Northwestern University.

A pedagogical pathfinder, Fred was the author, or co-author, of seven piano

methods, and numerous volumes of pedagogical publications to which he

contributed over 500 original compositions and arrangements. One method,

the Hal Leonard Student Piano Library, has been translated into eight foreign

languages.

Dr. Kern traveled the United States, Canada, and Taiwan as a sought-after clinician

and frequently gave presentations for the Hal Leonard Publishing Company and at

the Music Teachers' National Association, the National Conference on Keyboard

Pedagogy, and the Texas Music Educators' Association.

Fred met every moment of his life with an eye to its humor. To be in his presence

was to feel joyful, quick-to-laugh, and valued. He endured many health challenges

during the last twenty years of his life, rising to meet each one and generously

accepting the help of his closest companions even when that sometimes meant

giving up his treasured independence.

Fred is survived by several cherished cousins, his uncle and namesake Robert

Kern, many loving friends and his precious dog, Bentley Brown.