Gordon Getty
Composer
American composer Gordon Getty has made a lifetime of contributions to the world of classical music. He was awarded the prestigious European Culture Prize in 2019 recognizing his extraordinary legacy. Learn more about the man and his music. Scroll down for highlights or explore the website.
Upcoming Performances
“GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS” selected for first Opera on Film series at Opera Philadelphia’s renowned Festival O
Philadelphia Film Center
News
The latest on compositions, performances, and recordings.

Recording of “Spring Song” is released
Gordon Getty’s “Spring Song” appears on Matt Haimovitz’s new recording “PRIMAVERA II the rabbits.”

“GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS” is one of 20 official selections for Opera Philadelphia’s first Opera on Film series
Out of more than 800 submissions, Gordon Getty’s opera “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” has been chosen as one of the 20 official selections to be screened at Opera Philadelphia’s first Opera on Film series, part of Philadelphia’s renowned Festival O. “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” will be screened on Sunday, October 2, 2022, 4 PM at the Philadelphia Film Center.
Featured Recordings
Gordon Getty’s oeuvre spans orchestral works, song cycles, and full length operas.
Beauty Come Dancing
Love and dance permeate this album of 11 short choral works, paying homage to the romance and elegance of the late 19th century.
Featured Reviews
A complete archive of reviews of works by Gordon Getty, including performances and recordings.
Joanne Sydney Lessner: Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Composer/librettist Getty hews closely to the book, adding color and depth particularly where Kathie is concerned. The score is traditional and tonal, with recitatives and arias, soaring choral anthems, and a predilection for heroic high notes.
Read the full review on Opera NewsJeff Kaliss: Youth Chorus Demonstrates Music’s Power at Festival Napa Valley
The liveliness lingered and expanded through five sections from Gordon Getty’s Young America (2004, recorded a year later on Pentatone). Several of the performing boys had appeared as Brookfield School students in Getty’s 2021 filmed opera, Goodbye, Mr. Chips. The composer’s trademark quizzically chromatic reshapings of expected melodic movement were engagingly conveyed by this endemically extroverted ensemble, its tonality true through the alternative harmonizations, interestingly structured as a sort of double duet in the “Heather Mary” section, a pair of girls “addressing” a pair of the boys. With one exception, Getty also penned the lyrics to these sections, including the brief personal recollection “My Uncle’s House,” playfully evoked by the young singers.
For “Daughter of Asheville,” violinist Emma Hathaway stepped out to accompany coupled choristers waltzing and singing in 6/8 time, this composer’s tangy melodies and occasional open-fifth voicings painting a pretty picture of young romance. His years matching the 88 chromatic steps of a keyboard, Getty rose from his place to smilingly acknowledge the sustained approbation from his fellow audience members after the finish of his fun setting of Stephen Vincent Benét’s “When Daniel Boone Goes by at Night.”
Read the full review on San Francisco Classical Voice