Edward Leon Kottick

The world has lost a true renaissance man. Edward Leon Kottick, whose life blended music, scholarship, craftsmanship, and generosity of spirit, died on December 6, 2025, at the age of 95 in Kansas City, Missouri. A musician, musicologist, educator, author, instrument builder, and conductor, Ed devoted his life to understanding, creating, and sharing music—especially the music and instruments of the renaissance and medieval periods.

Ed was extraordinarily kind, helpful, supportive, and encouraging, and was ceaselessly optimistic, positive, and enthusiastic about life. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, mentor, and friend.

Born June 16, 1930, in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Hyman W. and Frieda Stoller Kottick, Ed grew up in Brooklyn and attended James Madison High School. His passion for music began at age 14 when he started learning the trombone. He followed his calling and earned a bachelor’s degree in music from New York University in 1953. There he met Gloria Astor, the love of his life, whom he married on May 10, 1953.

Prior to directing the Army band at Fort Gordon, Ga., during the Korean war, Ed toured North America as a trombonist with the George Gershwin Concert Orchestra under Lorin Maazel. Following his discharge, Ed played and toured with the New Orleans Philharmonic and Opera. While earning a master’s degree in musicology from Tulane University, he discovered the harpsichord—a pivotal moment that shaped the rest of his career. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1962.

Ed taught at Alma College in Alma, Mi., University of Kansas in Lawrence, and University of Missouri – St. Louis before joining the University of Iowa in 1968, where he taught for 24 years. There he built a national reputation as a scholar and educator, leading the Collegium Musicum and helping establish it as one of the country’s premier university early music ensembles. He published widely, collaborated on groundbreaking research into harpsichord acoustics, and was deeply respected for his advocacy for faculty rights through the American Association of University Professors.

An extraordinary craftsman, Ed built 58 harpsichords, along with clavichords, fortepianos, lutes, and numerous other early music instruments. His instruments—both visually stunning and musically refined—are treasured by musicians and institutions across the country. Internationally recognized as a leading authority on the harpsichord, he authored or co-authored seven books, including The Harpsichord Owner’s Guide and A History of the Harpsichord.

Ed was also the ultimate fixer of early keyboard instruments, and for more than 30 years, a steady stream of harpsichords, clavichords, and forte pianos were delivered to Ed for repairs, maintenance, or restoration.

Early in his instrument building career, Ed became associated with Zuckermann Harpsichords in Stonington, Conn. He began designing Zuckermann’s new instruments, writing their construction manuals, and handling advanced technical support starting in the year 2000. From 1978-1995 he and harpsichordist George Lucktenberg led European tours of public and private early keyboard collections. They also co-authored a book, Early Keyboard Instruments in European Museums.

Ed helped found the Midwestern Historical Keyboard Society and served several terms on its board. He also served several terms on the Board of the American Musical Instrument Society and was a member of the editorial board of the Early Keyboard Journal and the Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society for many years. Through all his endeavors, Ed helped revive and shape modern understanding and performance practice of early music, and he was regarded internationally as a foremost expert on the harpsichord.

A high point of Ed’s career occurred in 2006, when was honored with the American Musical Instrument Society’s Curt Sachs Award for his contributions toward the study of musical instruments, and for his distinguished work as a scholar, author, lecturer, builder, and instrument designer.

After retiring from academia, Ed embarked on an unexpected second career as a music director for musical theatre, leading dozens of productions with several community theatres in Iowa City.

In his final years, he continued performing, conducting, exercising, building, teaching, and planning his next project. Ed and his wife Gloria moved to Kansas City, Mo. this past May after living in Iowa City, Iowa for 57 years. He continued to squeeze every drop out of life until the very end.

Ed was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Barbara, and his granddaughter Ella. He is survived by his wife Gloria; daughters Judith and her husband, Ken Bandes, and Janet and her husband, Clarence Smith; his brother Stanley and wife Harriet, four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, extended family, and countless students, colleagues, and friends whose lives he enriched.

A memorial celebration will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts in Coralville, Iowa. Donations to honor Ed’s memory may be made to Families for Safe Streets. https://ny.familiesforsafestreets.org/donate