Buckner Gamby

Buckner Gamby’s History

Mr. Gamby was heard frequently in solo piano recitals while a student at the Conservatory as well as a piano guest soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, with Arthur Fiedler conducting, as well as with other conductors and orchestras.  He was recognized by the Boston-Bay State Banner for his inspirational performances for the Roxbury community (the “H” Block) with Gene Walcott, now known as Louis Farrakhan, who was a concert classical violinist.

Upon relocating to Petersburg, VA, Buckner and his beloved mother joined with the First Baptist Church, Harrison Street, where he served as Minister of Music and organist and founding director of the famous First Baptist Male Chorus for over 40 years, and director of the Chancel and Cathedral Choirs. He combined his work with the Male Chorus after he became the Minister of Music at Zion Baptist Church and founded the Petersburg Male Chorus, and was organist and director of the J. B. Brown Memorial Choir.  Mr. Gamby was very active in the Tri-Cities area as a piano teacher, organist, adjudicator, performer, choral director, clinician, lecturer, music educator and arranger. He also lent his talent as director of the Community Choir of the Bethany Baptist Association for many years. Area churches and many organizations bestowed numerous honors upon him for his tireless work and contributions to religious and classical music, education, and culture in the Tri-Cities.

Gamby served his country during the Korean War where his primary duty was drum major for the Army Band and pianist with the jazz ensemble. After his tenure in the Army, Gamby returned to the Conservatory to earn a Master of Music degree (1955), and then subsequently the distinguished Artist’s Diploma in piano performance in 1956. Since 1978, the NEC Alumni Council has honored the outstanding achievements of alumni who have distinguished themselves as performers, composers, conductors, music educators, administrators, scholars, and community leaders. As the Class of 1951 reunited in 2001, the Alumni council granted that Outstanding Alumni distinction to Buckner Gamby, who proudly led the processional during the Conservatory’s 2001 Commencement Exercises.

Gamby was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship for Foreign Study and as a Frank Huntington Beebe Fellow, studied privately at the Academy of Music in Vienna, Austria. He traveled in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as one of a duo-piano team and established himself on the world concert scene following his debut recital in Vienna. He performed widely in the Eastern and Midwestern United States, with debuts in Boston, New York, on university campuses, in other US cities, as well as in China. He was invited by the Foreign Affairs Office of the city of Sharguan, Guongdong Province in South China to be its guest performer and teach master piano classes. He was a member of the first music delegation to China in 1988, sponsored by the People-to-People Citizen Ambassadors, to study minorities music in China, and was also a member of a delegation in 1990 to Indonesia for the same purpose.

Gamby taught for several years at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, before coming to Virginia State University in 1962. Gamby served as Associate Professor of music for over three decades. He retired from VSU in 1992, with the distinction of Professor Emeritus, but continued to accompany his beloved Concert Choir, under the direction of his dear friend and colleague, Johnnella Lucas Edmonds. He was a founding member of the Undine Moore Scholarship Committee and served as a performer at its presentations. Moore had been Gamby’s neighbor, friend, and colleague at Virginia State University. He volunteered his services in music to the university and also served many times as an adjunct instructor.

Gamby, feeling that our youth need mentoring for better lives, co-founded the Petersburg Boys Choir in 1992 with the late Sandra Taylor.  Under his direction, the PBC performed for Governors and other dignitaries, throughout Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina, and boasts outstanding musical alumni as a result of Gamby’s training and leadership.  Still desiring to give back to the community, Gamby served at the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School from the year it opened its doors in 1999, where he taught piano and directed the Concert Choir, until his retirement in June 2016.

Mr. Gamby’s membership in professional societies and organizations included the American Guild of Organists, the American College of Musicians, Kappa Gamma Psi Music Fraternity, the honorary music society of Pi Kappa Lambda and honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity from whom he received several awards for distinction in education and performance. He was also a member of the Center for Black Music Research.

A loving father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Buckner Gamby is survived by his devoted son and daughter-in-law, Alvin K. Gamby, Sr. and Sharon Gamby; three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Gamby was predeceased by his wife, the late Ruby Robinson Gamby, whose four beloved daughters he cherished as his own.

Source: https://www.jmwilkersonsince1874.com/obituary/6721008  Accessed November 5, 2020