In 1976, Gail de Stwolinski was chair of the search committee that interviewed me for a position at the University of Oklahoma. When I mentioned her name to a faculty colleague at the University of Louisville, the rather famous pianist effused: “Gail de Stwolinski is a real powerhouse in music theory.” Gail met me at the airport and immediately I realized why her reputation had preceded her. She was funny, smart, nice and a wonderful host. Her warm greeting helped to convince me that OU was a “good fit” for me. It certainly had been a good fit for her.

Gail had just finished her term as the first woman president of the OU Faculty Senate, during which she fought for the rights of women faculty, particularly in the areas of tenure and promotion. She held a David Ross Boyd Professorship and was beloved by her students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Moreover, she was extremely popular with faculty colleagues, whom she and her husband, Louis, loved to entertain at their home on Cruce Street. Eventually, I also learned that Gail’s success was the result of years of hard work and dedicated service.

Gail was born on November 8, 1921, in Sidney, Mont., to Harold and Alice Rounce. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in 1943 from the University of Montana and married David Robinson Boyd, a naval aviator in September of that year. He was killed in battle over the Pacific in 1944, and their son, David, was born a short time later. In 1946, Gail Boyd completed her master’s degree in music theory at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and immediately joined the OU music faculty as an “instructor in theory.” She and her baby boy first lived in an unair-conditioned Quonset hut on OU’s South Base. In 1949, she was raised to the rank of assistant professor, and in March of 1952 President George Lynn Cross informed her that the OU regents had granted her tenure (at more than twice her starting salary).

Gail was indeed a powerhouse, not only as a teacher and mentor, but also as a leader on campus, as well as regionally and nationally. In 1951, she married Louis de Stwolinski, a prominent Norman banker and businessman. Through the early 50s, Gail led music theory committees and panels of the Music Educators National Conference and the Oklahoma Music Educators Association. She served as Southwest Division Chair of Theory and Composition for the Music Teachers National Association. She organized the Oklahoma Music Theory Roundtable, which included theory professors from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Texas. 

She was also a performer: In her senior year at the University of Montana, she had played solo cello in the Grieg Concerto with the University Orchestra, and later at OU she played chamber music in her home. She was featured in radio broadcasts of piano duets with William Tongue in 1952 and, again, in 1954 in more piano duets with piano professor Celia Mae Bryant. She sang in a church choir and played piano and harpsichord for campus opera rehearsals. Somehow, she also found time to serve on the board of directors for the OU Credit Union and as a founding faculty member of the OU College of Liberal Studies.

Gail took a year-long sabbatical from teaching in 1964 to complete coursework for her Ph.D. from Eastman. She received her doctorate in 1966 and was promoted to the rank of full professor. That same year, she received the OU Regents’ Award for Superior Teaching. In 1970 she was named David Ross Boyd Professor, again for superior teaching. Her pioneering work in aural theory pedagogy earned accolades from colleagues throughout academia and she authored the textbook, Form and Content in Instrumental Music. In 1974, she received the Distinguished Service Award for exemplary achievement from the University of Montana, and in the same year she was given honorary membership in Phi Beta Kappa by OU.

After retirement from OU in 1984, her former students created the Gail Boyd de Stwolinski Center for Music Theory Pedagogy, which publishes the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy. In 1986, she and her husband donated the former Jacobson House to the OU Foundation as a center for Native American art. In retirement, she became interested in painting and frequently held exhibits at the artists’ group Gallery II. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Philanthropic Educational Organization, Garden Club and Drama Club. Gail de Stwolinski died on July 15, 1996, at the age of 74.

Eugene Enrico is professor emeritus of musicology and served as OU’s Ruth Verne Davis Reaugh Professor of Music. He is an internationally recognized music scholar.

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