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 Irwin Shainman, 91
 July 08, 2012
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Irwin Shainman, 91, Williams College professor of music emeritus and a co-founder and former president of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, died early Sunday morning, July 8, 2012, at his Baxter Road home adjoining the campus.
Born in New York City on June 27, 1921, the son of Samuel and Gussie Pollack Shainman, he attended schools in the Bronx and Queens. He was named New York Philharmonic scholar for 1934-35 and began his musical career playing the bugle for his Boy Scout troop, the trumpet in a variety of school bands and studying privately in the city. After graduating in 1938 from Newton High School in Elmhurst, Long Island, and two years of playing professionally in a number of bands, he entered Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., receiving his bachelor's degree in 1943. He earned his master's from Columbia University in New York in 1948 and was awarded the Premier Prix from the Paris Conservatory of Music in 1950.
An Army veteran of World War II, he entered the service in 1942 and earned two Purple Hearts and the Combat Infantryman's Badge for action in the European theater. He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of corporal.
Mr. Shainman joined the Williams music faculty in September 1948. He was dean of the faculty from 1972-73; department chairman, 1971-73; co-coordinator of performing arts, 1973-76; and curator of the Paul Whiteman Collection, 1948-91. He was named the Class of 1955 Professor of Music, an endowed position, in 1980. He was also the director of the Williams College Band, Brass Ensemble and Woodwind Quintet. He retired in 1991, at which time the college named the instrumental rehearsal hall in Bernhard Music Center in his honor and established the Shainman Student Instrument Fund to enable students to play instruments often not individually owned.
From 1950 until 1965, professor Shainman was the conductor and music director of the Berkshire Community Symphony Orchestra. He was invited in 1993 to conduct the Boston Pops Orchestra in Boston's Symphony Hall during a Bicentennial Concert marking the 200th anniversary of the college.
In 1955, he was among a group from the college who created the Williamstown Summer Theater. He was its first business manager and treasurer and, as it evolved into the Williamstown Theatre Festival, as a member of its board of trustees. He was president of the WTF board from 1972 through 1975, and was a trustee emeritus.
He contributed many articles to professional journals and was, for many years, a regular music columnist and reviewer for The Berkshire Eagle. He is the author of "The Changeover from the Natural to the Valve Trumpet" (Columbia University Press, 1948) and "Avoiding Cultural Default and Other Essays" (Peter Lang Publishing, 1991).
Professor Shainman conducted a winter lecture series for 15 years at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., while audiences grew from 35 to 250. He was also a popular speaker for Williams at regional alumni association meetings across the country. During the last 14 years, he had led 10 trips for the Williams Alumni Travel office, mainly in Russia and Eastern Europe. Robert Behr, director of the office, said many alumni have a standing order for participation in any trip, anywhere, led by the popular professor.
His teaching extended to University of Massachusetts Extension courses in 1952-55 and North Adams State College (now Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts) in 1957. He worked with the Bennington (Vt.) College Composers Conference and Chamber Music Center. He was a consultant for the College Entrance Examination Board, 1969-75, and a member of the Saratoga (N.Y.) Performing Arts Center education committee in 1967 and 1968. He was a former board member and past president of Pittsfield's South Mountain Association.
He was first trumpet of the Albany (N.Y.) Symphony Orchestra from 1960 through 1965 and the Vermont Symphony from 1954 through 1958. He also was a member of the merit aid panel of the Massachusetts Arts Council in 1984.
Professor Shainman received the Danforth Foundation Teachers Award for 1957-58. He had been a member of the American Musicological Society, the College Music Association, and the Music Critics Association.
An avid golfer, he was a 50-year member of the Taconic Golf Club and a founding member of the Monday night B & G Golf League, competing until earlier this summer.
He married the former Bernice Cohen of New York in August 1948.
Besides his wife of 63 years, he leaves a daughter, Joan Zegras and her husband, Peter, of Williamstown and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; and a son, Jack Shainman and his partner, Carlos Vega, of New York City and Stuyvesant, N.Y.
 FUNERAL NOTICE — Private burial services for Mr. Shainman will be Tuesday, July 10, in the Williams College Cemetery. A celebration of his life will be held at a date to be announced later.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Shainman Instrumental Fund through the Williams College Music Department, to the Williamstown Theatre Festival, or to VNA & Hospice of Northern Berkshire in care of Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, Central Chapels, 74 Marshall St., North Adams, MA 01247.
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