John McLain Rinehart is a modern day contemporary classical composer and pianist. His life's works stand unparalleled in their genius, beauty, and clarity but like that of most modern composers they remain largely unknown.
Born on March 17, 1937 in Pittsburgh PA, he had begun serious musical studies by age 5 and at age 8 performed his first composition on piano, a waltz, for a concert in Akron Ohio celebrating the birth of the United Nations. In 1949 during the early days of television the young 12 year old appeared on ABC's broadcast of Rising Stars playing Chopin's Minute Waltz (the challenge was to play it in one minute flat!). Continuing his studies through college at Kent State University he studied piano and composition under Harold Miles, thus beginning his mature body of work with piano compositions, pieces for solo and choral voice, and chamber music as well as his first piano concerto "Todtentanz". Rinehart completed his masters at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tuteledge of Marcel Dick and Arthur Loesser. He finished post graduate work at Ohio State University and at Yale with Quincy Porter, all the while performing a large repertoire of classical standards and his own compositions.
As most modern composers do he taught music on the university level in order to support himself while composing. His works to date include 3 symphonies, 2 piano concertos, a double concerto for violin and cello, a mass, and many pieces for piano, vocal, and accompanied piano (from traditional chamber music to piano and synthesized sound). Dr. Rinehart taught all over the United States at many colleges including the Oberlin Conservatory of Music before settling into Antioch College as chair of the music department. He spent his 14 year tenure at Antioch rebuilding it's formerly defunct music program into one of high acclaim, hosting artists from around the globe to perform and lecture. Rinehart retired in late 2004 to focus further on composing. In July of 2009 he completed work on the final revision of his Piano Concerto No. 2 "Grande Fantasia". Two weeks later, on August 4, 2009, John McLain Rinehart passed away suddenly but peacefully with friends and family by his side. His son diligently continues the effort they made together for years to promote his father's works, both heard and unheard, for performance and recording.
This site acts simply to give a first glance of Dr. Rinehart's compositions as well as some of his brilliant piano performances. The material here will change periodically (but you can listen to additional compositions at his SECOND MySpace page). Also visit his BACH MySpace, HAYDN MySpace, MOZART MySpace, BEETHOVEN MySpace, CHOPIN MySpace and BRAHMS MySpace pages showcasing several performances each and a DEBUSSY MySpace account featuring one performance (En Blanc et Noir).
This site was written/constructed by John Rinehart III, maintained and monitored by father and son. All recordings displayed here are the property of John Rinehart, copyright 2012.
