Jean Hamlin

Published August 13, 2015 This content is archived.

Jean S. Hamlin, a longtime piano teacher who was on the UB music department staff for more than 30 years, died Aug. 7 in Elderwood at Williamsville. She was 95.

Born in Queens, the former Jean Van Shute earned a bachelor of music degree in piano from Oberlin College in 1941. She became a fellow at Julliard Graduate School, where she studied under the tutelage of Russian emigres and celebrated classical music pedagogues Josef and Rosina Lhévinne.

Hamlin served as a vocal coach and accompanist on the faculty of Georgia State Women’s College in Valdosta, then moved to Buffalo, where she became a member of the faculty of the Community Music School on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo from 1953-55.

She joined the staff of the music department at UB, where she served as vocal coach and accompanist to Swiss operatic baritone Heinz Rehfuss, who taught at the university. She subsequently served all of the UB voice faculty in this capacity.

She also coached and accompanied both the BFA and MFA voice recitals at UB. She became a part-time lecturer at the university in 1973 and retired in 1996.

She was the organist at Amherst Community Church from 1961-96, and also offered private piano lessons for more than 60 years — from 1945 to 2008.

Hamlin was a longtime volunteer at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, from which she received a certificate of appreciation. She also received a certificate of special recognition from the Amherst Symphony Orchestra, of which she was a member and soloist performer. She was a member of the American Guild of Organists, the Wednesday Morning Musicale and the Piano Teachers Forum.

A memorial service will take place at 3 p.m. Sept. 6 in Amherst Community Church, 77 Washington Highway, Snyder.