| Details: | Dr. Gerard Béhague died on June 13, 2005, after a long illness. He was a member of the School of Music faculty of The University of Texas at Austin from 1974 until his death.
Professor Béhague, born in Montpellier, France, on November 2, 1937, was raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he studied piano, music theory, and composition at the National School of Music of the University of Brazil and the Brazilian Conservatory of Music. He began his graduate studies in musicology at the Sorbonne University in Paris and then moved to Tulane University, where he received his Ph.D. in music in 1966 under the guidance of Gilbert Chase. In that same year, he was hired as an instructor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and rose quickly to the rank of associate professor. He moved to the University of Texas at Austin in 1974, where he was appointed professor in the Department of Music. He served as chairman of the Department of Music from 1980 to 1989 and, in 1985, was named the Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Endowed Professor in Music, and in 1991, the Virginia L. Murchison Endowed Regents Professor of Fine Arts.
From 1969 to 1977 he served as associate editor of the Yearbook for Inter-American Musical Research, and from 1974 to 1978 as editor of the journal Ethnomusicology. In 1980 he founded and subsequently edited the Latin American Music Review, a journal that provides a unique forum for academics from all of the Americas to publish in three languages. He was President of the Society for Ethnomusicology (1979–81) and served on the Board of Directors of several professional associations.
Professor Béhague had a profound influence in Brazil as well. In 1994 he was inducted into the Brazilian Academy of Music. In 1997 the Brazilian government bestowed upon him the title of Commander of the Order of Rio Branco in recognition of his work in Brazilian music studies. He was the first non-native Brazilian to have such an honor.
A prolific scholar and dedicated teacher, Professor Béhague was instrumental in establishing the graduate program in ethnomusicology at The University of Texas. Recognized as the world’s leading scholar of Latin American ethnomusicology, Dr. Béhague was particularly well known for his research on the music of Brazil, which he studied both as a music historian and as an ethnomusicologist. Through his teaching, both at the University of Texas and as a guest professor at a number Latin American universities, he trained several of the world’s eminent Latin Americanist ethnomusicologists active today both in the United States and Latin America. He researched and published extensively, with several books and countless articles to his credit, and presented well over 150 lectures and invited papers at various institutions around the world.
Despite his serious illness, Dr Béhague continued traveling, writing, teaching, and meeting with his students until just days before his death. In a marvelous show of affection, about 40 current and former students and colleagues from around the country held a surprise gathering in his home to honor him. He was deeply touched and grateful.
Throughout his life, Dr. Béhague was not only a loving husband and father and a trusted and loyal friend, but he also maintained close contact with his extended family in France, Brazil, and Ecuador, all of whom flooded him with love, affection, and support over the past months. He is survived by his wife, Cecilia; his daughter Sabina Béhague, her husband Mark Withers, and their son Silvan, who live in Kenya; his younger daughter Dominique Béhague, who resides in London; his two brothers Maurice Béhague (and wife Mara) and Bernard Béhague (and wife Aimee), who reside in Brazil; and sister Christiane Béhague Mayet and her husband Jean Loup, who live in France.
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