42. Stephen Siek on Alexander Reinagle, Composing in Early America

Pianist Stephen Siek served as a professor of music at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where he taught piano, music history, American music, the aesthetics of music, and film music. He is currently Director of the Emeritus College Academy for Continued Learning at Arizona State University. He has performed and lectured at piano conferences for organizations such as the Historical Keyboard Society of America and the American Liszt Society. Siek is a specialist in the keyboard music of the Federalist Era American composer Alexander Reinagle. Reinagle was born in Edinburgh and immigrated to America in 1786, first briefly to New York before settling in Philadelphia and later Baltimore, where he died in 1809. He quickly became an important figure in the musical life of Philadelphia, where he performed at the 1787 Constitutional Convention and attracted the attention of George Washington. Siek will visit the Bay Area to perform the music of this little-known early American on Monday, July 20, 2026, the 240th anniversary of Reinagle’s first performance in the United States, at Littlefield Concert Hall at Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland. Siek joins the podcast to talk about the life and work of this underrecognized American composer. Music: Sonata in D I. Allegro con Brio, Sonata in E II. Adagio, Variations On "Steer Her Up And Had Her Gawn," Sonata in C II. Adagio, and Variations On "Lee Rigg" by Alexander Reinagle, performed by Stephen Siek (Titanic Records) pianosage.net (https://www.pianosage.net/studio.html) Follow us on Instagram (  / othermindssf  ) and Facebook (  / other.minds  ) . otherminds.org (https://www.otherminds.org/) Contact us at [email protected]. The Other Minds Podcast is hosted and edited by Joseph Bohigian. Outro music is “Kings: Atahualpa” by Brian Baumbusch (Other Minds Records).