Stephen Bonta

1927 - 2017

Stephen Bonta 1927 - 2017
SLINGERLANDS- Stephen Bonta, of Slingerlands, formerly of Clinton, NY, died at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany on July 14, 2017, after a short illness.
He was born on September 5, 1927, in Syracuse, NY, to Edwin Bonta, an architect who designed the New York City-landmarked Downtown Athletic Club, and Elizabeth Illsley Bonta, an amateur pianist who retired as the librarian of the Montclair Art Museum. In 1928, the family moved to Verona, NJ, where Stephen attended local schools and studied piano, organ and cello. He started composing at age 11 and won a spot in the cello section of the New Jersey Symphony at age 15.
After graduating Verona High School in 1944, he enlisted in the Navy, where he served as an Electronics Technician's Mate, Petty Officer 2nd Class, aboard a destroyer escort. While in the Navy, he was a member of the Bluejacket Choir in Great Lakes, IL, and organist at the Base Chapel, Naval Air Station Lee Field, Green Cove Springs, FL.
In 1946, he enrolled at Yale University, which he attended on the GI Bill, receiving a bachelor of arts in music in 1950. While at Yale, he performed as a cellist in the New Haven Symphony, sang in the Yale Glee Club, served as conductor of the Freshman Chorus, and led the Spizzwinks (?), an a cappella singing group for which he also arranged music.
After graduating from Yale, he enrolled at Columbia University's Teacher's College, receiving a master of arts in 1951. While at Columbia, he studied organ with Carl Weinrich and composition with Douglas Moore, among others, and concurrently served as organist and choirmaster of St. John's Episcopal Church in Montclair, NJ.
In 1952, he joined the faculty of the Taft School in Watertown, CT, where he taught math and music, conducted various student ensembles, and coached the soccer and hockey teams.
In 1954, he enrolled at Harvard University, where he studied music history, theory, and composition with Walter Piston, Randall Thompson and others, receiving a master of arts in 1957 and a PhD in 1964. During his time in Cambridge, he also served as organist and choirmaster of Old North Church in Marblehead, MA.
While he was at Harvard, he met Lois Purrington, who was then secretary of the music department; they were married in 1959, and in 1961, they moved to Clinton, NY, where he joined the faculty at Hamilton College. At Hamilton, he served as chair of the music department from 1964 to 1989; taught generations of students; conducted, composed and arranged for the brass choir and other student ensembles; oversaw the three-fold expansion of the music department; and was instrumental in the building of Wellin Hall, the performance venue at Hamilton. He retired as the Margaret Bundy Scott professor in 1996.
As a scholar, Bonta's areas of expertise included the Italian composers Monteverdi and Legrenzi, and the origins of the modern-day cello. He was cited in and contributed to several entries in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the leading reference source for classical music. Other publications have included Study Scores of Historical Styles with Harry B. Lincoln (Prentice-Hall, 1992) and several critical editions of the music of Giovanni Legrenzi (Harvard University Press). In 2003, Britain's Ashgate Publishing Limited released Studies in Italian Sacred and Instrumental Music in the 17th Century, a collection of his articles written over the previous 30 years. He was a member of the International Musicological Society, the American Musicological Society, the American Musical Instrument Society, College Music Society, the Music Library Association, the Catgut Acoustical Society, and, since 2002, an honorary member of the Society for Seventeenth Century Music.
Bonta also served for many years on the board of the Chamber Music Society of Utica, and ran the Music at Hamilton concert series in its early years. In addition, he was organist and choirmaster of St. James' Episcopal Church in Clinton from 1970 to 1994, and choirmaster of First Presbyterian Church in Rome, NY, for several years thereafter. Most recently, he was a communicant at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Albany.
Bonta's music has been performed at the Yaddo Music Festival and at New York's Town Hall, and his compositions and arrangements have been published by G. Schirmer Inc.
He is survived by his daughters, Elizabeth Moll, a violist and teacher in Delmar, NY; Martha, a classical radio producer in New York City; and Susanna, an arts administrator in Boston and amateur violist; two sons-in-law, William J. Moll, Jr., and Mark Rotella; and four grandchildren, Samuel and Louisa Rotella and Mai and Lila Caslowitz. Also, cousins, Elizabeth Scales, of Cary, NC, and Martin Porter Tuttle, of Pompton Plains, NJ; sister-in-law, Julie Clark Bonta, of Pittsburgh; and two nieces, Martha Folley, of Essex Junction, VT, and Lisa and Bruce Rickard, of Fredericktown, OH, and their children and grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents; a brother, David; and a niece, Linda Folley. Lois Purrington Bonta, his wife of 51 years, died in 2010.
In recent years, he continued to share with family, longtime friends and colleagues his mischievous sense of humor, gained from his father, Edwin, and honed with his brother, David. In addition, and by his example, he showed his children and grandchildren that curiosity is a lifelong gift, and that education continues as long as there is an inquiring mind.
Among his lifelong interests were railroads; he fortuitously gained a son-in-law, Bill, who shared his passion for the pipe organ and who also pursued a career in the railroad field. The two of them held membership in the Utica & Mohawk Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. He also traveled often to Italy for his research, spoke the language, and was delighted to gain in his second son-in-law, Mark, a fellow enthusiastic Italophile.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be considered to Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, 855 Central Avenue, Albany, NY 12206; the Central Oneida County Volunteer Ambulance Corps, c/o NBT Bank, 8549 Seneca Turnpike, New Hartford, NY 13413; or A Better Chance of Clinton, PO Box 139, Clinton, NY 13323.
A memorial service will take place on Saturday, September 9, at 2 p.m. at St. James Church, Clinton.
Arrangements are under the direction of Surridge & Roberts Funeral Home, 470 French Rd., Utica.
Messages of sympathy www.surridgeandroberts.com.