SMU alumni, faculty, friends and family celebrated the 66-year tenure of renowned pianist and professor emeritus of music Alfred Mouledous at a concert gala in SMU’s Caruth Auditorium on Feb. 8.

Acclaimed pianists from around the country, many of whom studied with Mouledous, played selections to honor his legacy. Videos and stories from former students and faculty intertwined the performances and shared his impact on their lives, classical music and piano education.

Mouledous joined the university in 1955 after receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music. As a student, he learned from some of the most prominent pianists of the 20th century; he was a protégé of Swiss-American pianist and pedagogue Cécile Staub Genhart, earned a Fulbright award to study in Paris with French musician Alfred Cortot and was a scholarship student of German pianist Walter Gieseking.

Music labels Mercury, Envoy and VOX recorded his work and he performed with orchestras across the country.

His knowledge and expertise attracts students to SMU from around the world. During his tenure, he also served as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s pianist for four decades.

Mouledous retired in 2021, marking 66 years at SMU, becoming the longest-serving faculty member of the university.

Meadows School of the Arts Dean Sam Holland previously taught as a professor of piano and pedagogy and reflected on his experience working with Mouledous.

“Over three decades I never stopped learning from him or marveling at his extraordinary artistic and musical and pedagogical mind,” Holland said. “Nowhere in the world is there an artist-teacher with a more complete mastery of the piano repertoire, the entire piano repertoire, in his mind, and in his heart and in his hand than is found in Alfred Mouledous.”

Mouledous was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching from Steinway & Sons North Texas in recognition of his dedicated 70 year career teaching the art of piano playing.

Otis Gray, a representative of Steinway & Sons North Texas and a student of Mouledous from 1990-1992, presented the award.

“Mr. Mouledous is a legend in his own right. He teaches not only through instruction but by example,” Gray said. “Demonstrating the utmost respect for the music, the composers, and the instrument itself. His love for teaching and for his students shines through, in every lesson.”

For the finale, Mouledous and Julie Bees, professor of piano at Wichita State University, played “Le jardin féerique” (The Fairy Garden) from Maurice Ravel’s “Ma mère l’Oye” (Mother Goose). Their performance received a standing ovation.

To honor Mouledous’ New Orleans roots, the second line marched out to surprise the audience and led them to the reception in the Gene and Jerry Jones Grand Atrium. The second line is a beloved New Orleans parade tradition consisting of a brass band in the first line, followed by the second line of participants marching and celebrating to the music.

At the reception, attendees also celebrated Mouledous’ 96th birthday with a candle-covered cake.

“Here’s to an extraordinary artist, extraordinary teacher, a wonderful human being who has touched so many of our lives,” Holland said while offering a toast with the cake.

Kristin Yost, owner and director of the Center for Musical Minds, and Chee-Hwa Tan, composer and founder of Dayung Sampan Music, co-organized the gala, spending five months fundraising and planning.

Yost and Tan, who graduated in 2006 and 1990, respectively, studied with Mouledous as graduate students in the piano performance and piano pedagogy programs.

“I’ve always been a musician since when I could remember but I really feel like when I walked away from SMU, I felt like a pianist,” Yost said. “His standard of excellence in pianism is the same for everybody whether you are a 14-year-old high school student or you are an award-winning concert pianist or a college student, he treats everybody the same. He expects the same from everybody and I think that was a beautiful experience for me to go through.”

Due to safety concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic when Mouledous retired, the celebration was postponed.

“We wanted to make sure we honored him. We didn’t then and we’re still figuring things out now,” Yost said. “We just wanted to make sure we put a bow on his career.”

Tan has started the Alfred Mouledous Library, a collection of videos documenting his life and teachings, with the help of donations from former students to keep his legacy alive.

“We have hours and hours of precious video of him solving problems, little ideas and tricks and artistry, and more to come,” Tan said. “As much as we can get out to make that library available to pianists and teachers to pass on to the next generation, I think that would be my hope.”

During the concert, Tan performed a composition she created last March, after a series of meetings with Mouledous for the video library and inspiration from the Robert Louis Stevenson poem, “Autumn Fires.”

“I feel very honored now, just because when you’re organizing an event it’s hard to actually think about that part, getting up and performing, because there’s so many other details,” Tan said. “Then I got to thinking how really, no piece has come to me like that, that embodied all my gratefulness and my gratitude, so it’s an honor to get to play for him.”

Éva Polgár, assistant professor of piano at East Tennessee State University, was among the artists who performed during the concert and was ecstatic and shocked when she got the call.

“I felt the responsibility of bringing something special to the occasion among all these special performers but it’s a joy to be invited and be among these giants, especially Mr. Mouledous,” Polgár said.

Yost introduced Polgár to Mouledous while Polgár worked at the Center for Musical Minds and studied in a doctoral program at the University of North Texas.

“I started coming back on Saturdays on SMU’s campus and became an unofficial but faithful student of his,” Polgár said.

Barbara Hill Moore, senior associate dean for faculty and professor of voice, who recently celebrated her tenure milestone of 50 years, expressed fond memories of being colleagues with Mouledous.

“He is a loving, kind guy and so since he’s been gone I’ve missed that. I miss him very much,” Hill Moore said. “He’s the kind of person, his presence never leaves. His legacy is just passing by you every second.”

Ai Li Goh Brown, a former student of Mouledous from 1994-2000, arrived at SMU from Malaysia and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance and pedagogy.

“He helped me reach my full potential, he helped me find the scholarships and all the opportunities that I needed to stay here and to do my master’s,” Goh Brown said. “He really believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself, and he really taught me so many tricks that I always pull out every day, still as a piano teacher.”

A line known by many of Mouledous’ students, “In the beginning there was rhythm,” is the same piece of wisdom Goh Brown learned as a student and has now passed it down to her own students.

“For him, everything revolved around making sure you have rhythm in music,” Goh Brown said. “I think that was the best advice he gave us and advice we give our students still.”

While all of Mouledous’ former students and colleagues celebrated his dedication and artistry, Mouledous praised the students in the music program who made his 66 year tenure at SMU special.

“I’ve been here a long time and I’ve seen a lot of changes, most of them have been for the better,” Mouledous said. “The school of music students seem to be different than the rest of the university students and that I like.”

Chloe Casdorph contributed to this story.