George B. Stauffer is Dean of the Mason Gross School of the Arts and Distinguished Professor of Music History. He is known internationally as a scholar, performer, and writer on the music and culture of the Baroque Era and the life and works of J.S. Bach in particular.
Educated at Dartmouth College, Bryn Mawr College, and Columbia University, he has published eight books on Baroque music and Bach, including, most recently, Bach: The Mass in B Minor, The World of Baroque Music, and About Bach. He has also contributed to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Collier’s Encyclopedia, Early Music, Bach-Jahrbuch, and many other American, European, and Asian publications. He has also written feature articles for The New York Times and The Weekly Standard.
As a speaker, Stauffer has lectured at Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, University of Leipzig, National Sun Yat-sen University, and many other colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. He has also given pre-concert talks at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, and many other concert venues. He has written program or CD liner notes for Yo Yo Ma, Peter Serkin, Murray Perahia, Kathleen Battle, Nathalie Stutzmann, Giuliano Carmignola, and many other distinguished musicians.
As a performer, Stauffer studied organ with Robert Elmore, John Weaver, and Vernon de Tar, and from 1977 to 1999 served as University Organist and Chapel Music Director at Columbia University, where he appeared frequently in concert. His Bach playing has been termed “fluent, four-square, and solidly musical” by The New York Times. He is a featured artist on the 4-CD album The Great Organs of New York.
Before coming to Rutgers, Stauffer taught at Yeshiva University and Hunter College (where he served as Chair of the Music Department and Program in Dance) and the Graduate Center of CUNY. He has held IREX, Guggenheim, Fulbright, ACLS, and Bogliasco fellowships, and is a past president of the American Bach Society.
At Rutgers
As Dean of the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, Stauffer oversees four departments – Dance, Music, Theater, and Visual Arts – and four divisions – Brodsky Print Center, Extension Division, Mason Gross Online, and Rutgers Center for Digital Filmmaking. He also facilitated the construction of Bettenbender Plaza, a 20,000 sq.ft. gathering and performance space, and Mortensen Hall, a 24,000 sq.ft. practice and performing facility. Both are part of the Mason Gross Performing Arts Center.
Stauffer introduced the highly successful performance initiative “Rutgers in New York,” which has taken Mason Gross students and faculty to perform or exhibit in New York, at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Majestic Theater, Kaye Playhouse, Bill Maynes Gallery, The Joyce, Blue Note Jazz Café, and other distinguished arts venues. He also started the “Mason Gross Presents” series, which brings eminent artists to campus to work with Mason Gross students. Guests have included actor Kevin Kline, choreographer Bill T. Jones, artist Martin Puryear, and pianist Richard Goode.
Under Stauffer’s leadership, Mason Gross raised $11.7 million in the last Rutgers Capital Campaign “Creating the Future Today,” and $24.2 million thus far in the present Capital Campaign, “Our Rutgers, Our Future.” Among the gifts was one of the largest private donations in the history of Rutgers University, a $7.2 million bequest from former Mason Gross Advancement Council member Victoria J. Mastrobuono.