KLAUSS,
KENNETH KARL
KENNETH KARL KLAUSS WAS BORN APRIL 8, 1923
IN THE CITY OF PARKSTON, SOUTH DAKOTA.
HIS CHILDHOOD SHOWED INTEREST IN
MANY ENTHUSIASMS, NOT NECESSARILY IN THE FIELD OF MUSIC, WHICH AREA FINALLY
BECAME HIS ALL-CONSUMING OCCUPATION. HIS
PARTICIPATION IN THE MUSICAL LIFE OF THE PARKSTON SCHOOLS GAVE HIM A SOLID
GROUNDING IN THE AREA OF PERFORMANCE, PRIMARILY AS A PIANIST AND ACCOMPANIST.
HIS MATERNAL FORBEARS WERE MUSICALLY ACTIVE.
HIS UNCLE CARL ENGEL WAS A PROFESSER AT UNION COLLEGE IN LINCOLN.
NEBRASKA, HAVING A CAMPUS BUILDING
THERE NAMED IN HIS HONOR. HIS
ELDEST SISTER, MABEL KLAUSS ANDERSON WAS A MEMBER OF THE THURLOW LIEURANCE
“CHATAUQUA” TOURING COMPANY IN THE EARLY 1920’S.
KENNETH SPENT HIS FIRST TWO YEARS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, LINCOLN
MUSIC SCHOOL, AND FINISHED THE WORK ON A DEGREE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA. HIS WORK THERE WITH THE
VIENNESE COMPOSER, ERNST TOCH WAS A GREAT INFLUENCE IN DEVELOPING HIS OWN STYLE
OF EXPRESSION, SINCE TOCH WAS PARTICULARLY ENCOURAGING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF
INDIVIDUALITY.
HIS
MUSICAL CAREER CONSISTED MAINLY OF WORK IN THE WORLD OF PRIVATE INSTRUCTION AND
FREE-LANCE SEMINARS INVOLVING THEORY, COMPOSITION, AND HISTORY OF MUSIC.
HIS MANUSCRIPTS, BOOKS, AND RECORD COLLECTIONS ARE HOUSED IN THE
“KLAUSS ARCHIVE”, PARKSTON, SOUTH DAKOTA.
