Gerald Busby

{{Infobox person

| name = Gerald Busby

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1935|12|16}}

| birth_place = Tyler, Texas, U.S.

| known_for = 3 Women (film), Runes (dance)

| alma_mater = Yale University

| occupation = composer

| nationality = American

}}

Gerald Busby (born December 16, 1935) is an American composer.

Biography

Busby was born in Tyler, Texas.{{efn|1=In the interview with Adam Gopnik, he indicated that there was a Baptist minister as part of his growing up.{{Relevance inline|date=December 2024}}}} He studied piano as a child, playing with the Houston Symphony when he was fifteen.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} He attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he studied music in college, but once graduated, began working as a traveling salesman.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} At age 40, he had an "epiphany" and began to compose, a direction which surprised him.{{sfn|Rehrmann|2007}}

In 1977, with the assistance of composer Virgil Thomson, he moved to the Hotel Chelsea in New York City where he has written most of his work.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} Living at the Hotel Chelsea brought him into contact with numerous cultural figures. One of them was dancer Rudolf Nureyev and his then-partner Wallace Potts.

Potts gave choreographer Paul Taylor a recording of Busby's music, which led to Busby writing the score for Taylor's dance Runes.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} Regarding his scores for Paul Taylor's dance Runes and Robert Altman's film 3 Women, Busby said, "Those two pieces are acknowledged as masterpieces, so that I know they'll last beyond me. ... Not because what I did was a masterpiece, but I was part of it."{{sfn|Rehrmann|2007}}

In 1985, Busby was diagnosed with HIV as was his partner Samuel Byers. Byers died on December 14, 1993; the couple had been together for 18 years. "Sam’s death was just unbearable...He lost his mind and withered away. I was there the whole time with him and taking care of him, so I just went nuts."{{sfn|Rehrmann|2007}} After a bout of depression and drug addiction, he became sober and began composing again.

In 2007, his monthly income amounted to $658 from Social Security, $78 in disability payments, and $156 in food stamps. Income from his music was undependable; in a good month he could get $1,000, or nothing. The New York Times described him as one of its "most neediest cases".{{sfn|Rehrmann|2007}} Through the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Busby was able to receive $754.96 for digitizing recordings originally made on perishable cassette tape.{{sfn|Rehrmann|2007}}

Despite being HIV positive, he has claimed that his immune system has regenerated, something he attributes to his daily practice of reiki.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} As of 2015, he continued to live at the Hotel Chelsea.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}}

Notes and references

Notes

References

=Sources=

{{cite magazine|last=Gopnik|first=Adam|author-link=Adam Gopnik|title=The Last Living Bohemian in Chelsea Tells All|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-last-living-bohemian-in-chelsea-tells-all|magazine=The New Yorker|date=2015-06-15|access-date=2024-12-29}}
{{cite news|last=Rehrmann|first=Alexis|title=Back from the Edge, and Living His Life Note by Note|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/nyregion/16neediest.html|date=2007-12-16|access-date=2015-09-06}}