Daniel Gregory Mason

Daniel Gregory Mason (November 20, 1873 to December 4, 1953) was a US composer and music critic who was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was descended from a long line of well known American musicians and his cousin, John B. Mason, was a popular actor on the US and UK stage. Mason studied with John Knowles Paine at Harvard University from 1891 to 1895, and with Arthur Whiting and later wrote a journal article about him. In 1894 he published Opus 1, a set of keyboard waltzes, and later (1905) became a lecturer at Columbia University, where he would remain until his retirement in 1942. He became an assistant professor in 1910, MacDowell professor in 1929, and head of the music department up to 1940. After 1907, Mason devoted much of his time to composition, studying with Vincent D'Indy in Paris. He was awarded honorary doctorates and prizes.