Henry S. Fusner, Nashville resident from 1970 to 2015, died February 2. He was 91. Born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1923, Fusner grew up in New Jersey, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School and a doctorate from the School of Sacred Music of Union Theological Seminary. His teachers included Gaston M. Dethier in organ and piano, Peter Wilhousky in conducting, Vittorio Gianini and Normand Lockwood in composition, and Clarence Dickinson in organ study.
Dr. Fusner held church positions in the New York City area, including the Church of St. Edward the Martyr in Manhattan and Emmanuel Baptist Church, Brooklyn. He moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1956 to be organist and choirmaster at the Church of the Covenant and teacher of organ and church music at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1970, he moved to Nashville to assume a similar position at First Presbyterian Church and as a teacher at the Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University. Henry S. Fusner is survived by his niece, Dr. June Fusner Leyland (Gary), and nephews George R. Fusner, Jr. (Myra), and Neal Henry Fusner (Annaliesa).
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