Heussenstamm has taught at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Los Angeles, Ambassador College, and steadily for 17 years at California State University, Northridge until his retirement in June, 2000.
George Heussenstamm has more than 85 published compositions, and his works have been performed extensively both here and abroad. He is perhaps best known for his large-scale compositions for saxophone and brass ensembles. He has written the Norton Manual of Music Notation, released by W.W. Norton and Co. in March, 1987 and still a mainstay in the literature about the notation of music. He has also written a two-volume textbook on tonal harmony, Handbook of Harmony, which was the required harmony textbook at CSUN for several years. It has been published in two volumes by Hal Leonard Corp. under the title Hal Leonard Theory and Harmony and is available at book stores everywhere. His Handbook of Tonal Counterpoint is written in a style geared for maximum comprehension by college-level students.
Among his non-academic activities are fishing, pocket billiards, going to concerts, and Scrabble. He was for 17 years the director of a Scrabble club in Glendale, California and was chosen as Director of the Year in 1991 by the National Scrabble Association. He is an avid follower of national and international affairs, his primary source being BBC World Service over XM satellite radio. His wife, Mary (1930-2005), was a locally well-known watercolor portraitist. Her book Watercolor Portraits Painted on the Streets of Los Angeles has been widely acclaimed.
George Heussenstamm has more than 85 published compositions, and his works have been performed extensively both here and abroad. He is perhaps best known for his large-scale compositions for saxophone and brass ensembles. He has written the Norton Manual of Music Notation, released by W.W. Norton and Co. in March, 1987 and still a mainstay in the literature about the notation of music. He has also written a two-volume textbook on tonal harmony, Handbook of Harmony, which was the required harmony textbook at CSUN for several years. It has been published in two volumes by Hal Leonard Corp. under the title Hal Leonard Theory and Harmony and is available at book stores everywhere. His Handbook of Tonal Counterpoint is written in a style geared for maximum comprehension by college-level students.
Among his non-academic activities are fishing, pocket billiards, going to concerts, and Scrabble. He was for 17 years the director of a Scrabble club in Glendale, California and was chosen as Director of the Year in 1991 by the National Scrabble Association. He is an avid follower of national and international affairs, his primary source being BBC World Service over XM satellite radio. His wife, Mary (1930-2005), was a locally well-known watercolor portraitist. Her book Watercolor Portraits Painted on the Streets of Los Angeles has been widely acclaimed.
To read an in-depth conversation between Heussenstamm and Duffie, please make note of this external link: www.bruceduffie.com/heussenstamm.html