Howard Kenneth Klein

1931 - 2021

Howard Kenneth Klein, of Front Royal, VA, died March 1, 2021 in Winchester, VA, after a long illness. He was 89 years old.

He is survived by sons Adam Charles Josef Klein and Lawrence Parker ("Moondi") Klein; their wives, Tami Swartz and Nancy Green Klein; and three grandchildren: Lauren Windrow Klein and Connor Jackson Klein (Moondi and Nancy's children) and David Kensington Brantley, Adam's son by his first wife.

Howard and wife Patricia Windrow (1921-2013) moved to Front Royal in 1990. Pat established the Windrow Art Galleries on Main Street and was a well-loved member of the arts and business community. On her passing in 2013, the Town Council issued a proclamation naming her birthday September 12 "Patricia Windrow Day."

Born June 15, 1931 in Teaneck, New Jersey, Howard was an accomplished musician, critic and internationally influential foundation executive. After a Bachelor of Music degree from Southeastern Louisiana College (1952), and four years as a member of the USAF's 509th Air Force Band, discharged in 1956 at the rank of S/Sgt., Klein ­ on a scholarship ­ earned degrees of Bachelor (1959) and Master of Science (1961) in piano from New York's Juilliard School of Music, then taught music theory in Juilliard's Dance Division for a year. Then Juilliard president William Bergsma recommended him for a music critic job with The New York Times, and chief critic Harold Schonberg hired him. Klein reviewed up to nine concerts a week, became Recordings Editor for the Sunday Times and interviewed hundreds of notable musicians.

In 1967 Klein left the Times to become Assistant Director ­ later Director ­ for Arts at the Rockefeller Foundation.

Howard underwrote residency programs linking creative artists with organizations that disseminate their work: playwrights with theaters, composers with orchestras and opera companies, choreographers with dance companies, painters and sculptors with museums. Klein also helped found 42 non-profit arts organizations, including: The Sundance Institute, the Bay Area Video Coalition, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Eliot Feld Ballet-Ballet Tech, the Carter Family Memorial Music Center (of which he later became President) and New World Records (where later he was Director for Artists and Repertory). International programs included exchange tours of American and African arts groups; The American Center for Students and Artists in Paris, France; and Goldsmiths' College, University of London, to develop a holographic arts laboratory.

As a pianist he performed in the Feld Ballet's "Love Song Waltzes" with pianist Peter Longiaru; with Adam Klein in Schubert song cycles and other programs in New York City and elsewhere; and with Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein at concerts in New Freedom, PA and elsewhere.

From 1971 Klein was a Kriya Yoga student of Self-Realization Fellowship; he attended services regularly at Greenfield Retreat in Front Royal and contributed to its programs and support.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Blue Ridge Hospice in Winchester, Virginia.

Ministry of Comfort Entrusted to Cartwright Funeral Home Winchester, VA

cartwrightfuneralhome.com