The passing of Philip Lambert

February 10, 2022

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Professor Philip Lambert of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts. As a music theorist, Professor Lambert was a pillar of our Music Program for almost 35 years, formally establishing the teaching of keyboard harmony and the Music Theory minor. He was a devoted educator. In addition to his classroom duties, he individually tutored hundreds of students in theory and composition during his academic career, also mentoring CUNY doctoral students and shepherding dissertations. He served FPA for two terms as chairman, and with his brilliant mind, dry wit, and quiet presence, he was always a steady and secure source of advice and guidance.

A tireless researcher and writer, whose interests were as wide as they were deep, Professor Lambert authored scholarly books on Charles Ives, the Beachboys’ Brian Wilson, Broadway’s Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, composer Alec Wilder, as well as classroom textbooks for both music harmony and post-tonal theory, and many scholarly articles.

Professor Lambert spent his youth in Oklahoma, where he walked by the now-famous Ada water tower every day on his way to middle school. He played football and trombone and also performed in community theater productions (playing the Artful Dodger in Oliver! and Papageno in The Magic Flute, among other roles). He received his BA from the University of Oklahoma and his PhD from the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music.

Professor Lambert succumbed to a long illness after a valiant struggle and is survived by his wife Diane and two daughters. He was 63. We all miss him very much.

Condolences may be conveyed to Mrs. Lambert at Philip.Lambert@baruch.cuny.edu.

Andrew Tomasello
Associate Professor, Deputy Chair for Music
Department of Fine and Performing Arts