Violinist Charles Castleman ’57 Gives Stock in Gratitude for Thayer Experience

Charles Castleman ’57

Charles Castleman ’57 was already a celebrated musician with a busy travel schedule when he started at Thayer Academy … in the third grade … at age 6.

In gratitude for the education that prepared him for admission to Harvard, the scholarship support he received at the Academy, and the scheduling flexibility he was allowed there, the world-renowned violinist known to Thayer as “Charlie” is making a substantial bequest funded by Amazon and Facebook stock.

“I really gained a whole lifetime from Thayer; almost everything that I accomplished hinged on Thayer’s flexibility,” says Charlie, who still solos with symphonies around the world while serving as professor of violin at the University of Miami. “In addition, I needed scholarship help all the way through, and Thayer was very generous.”

Charlie chose to fund his gift with appreciated stock because he is spared the capital-gain tax he would have had to pay if he’d sold it and because he believes that Amazon and Facebook stock are likely to appreciate a lot more during his lifetime.

“I feel pretty secure that however long from now the bequest ends up happening, this stock will not have lost its value,” he says.

The unrestricted gift—which means Thayer can use it for any purpose—qualifies Charlie as a member of the Southworth Society for those who make planned gifts to Thayer. Charlie gives annually as well.

Charlie’s parents discovered Thayer while looking for a school for the prodigy, who began reading at 2 and playing violin and piano at 4 while being mentored by Arthur Fiedler of the Boston Pops—with whom Charlie performed during his first year at Thayer.

“Everybody agreed that at age 6 I should be in third grade, but the public school system did not know what to do with me,” Charlie relates. “At the time, Thayer had 2nd and 3rd grade in the same room, and that was ideal for someone who needed to be doing third grade work but was only 6 years old.”

The story of connecting with Fiedler—who at the time was the most popular orchestra conductor in the world—shows just how precocious Charlie was.

“I was 2 or 3 when my mother took me to a concert at the Boston Pops,” Charlie recalls. “I was already listening to a lot of classical music, and I had a list of pieces I wanted to hear. When the orchestra didn’t play them, I complained to my mother. She told me I should complain to the conductor—and took me backstage to do so! I met Fiedler, and when he saw that I knew what I was talking about, he became a mentor for my youth.”

As advanced as Charlie was, he benefited socially as well as academically from the Thayer experience.

“I’m an only child, and the social interaction I got at Thayer was very important to me,” he says. “I was younger than all the people in my class, but we are lifelong friends.”

Thayer became the only school Charlie attended until he went off to college at Harvard. He missed a lot of class time because of his touring schedule but still was an excellent student, and he involved himself in school activities, though not nearly with the success he found in his professional career.

“I was in the glee club—a tenor who sang without any excellence,” he recalls. “I was the sixth man on the six-man tennis team, and I more or less played football: I was the fourth-string junior varsity quarterback, which means you’re on the bench.”

All the while he was performing around the world, both serious classical music and as a guest on TV shows with the likes of Jackie Gleason, Lawrence Welk, and Frank Sinatra. Once Jack Benny humorously showed the 9-year-old all the wrong ways to play a violin, a bit that is still available on YouTube.

“Me being able to do all this and balance everything was because Thayer figured out when to be flexible and when they didn’t have to be,” Charlie says again. “And the whole Thayer experience was exhilarating intellectually. All of the teachers were quite remarkable, preparing me very well for Harvard.”

He singled out for particular praise English teacher Harriet Gemmel, who taught at the school for decades and for whom the Sophomore Short Story Prize is named (and who, along with other Thayer staff, was vilified in the first short story sold by the late novelist John Cheever, who attended Thayer for a time).

Charlie spent two years at Harvard before attending the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia for two years. He then returned to the Ivy League school to complete his degree—the first time he was with students his own age. He earned a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania and taught at the prestigious Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester for 40 years. Charlie then “retired” to his professorship at the University of Miami and his touring schedule.

“I am busier than ever,” he says, “teaching and running a chamber music program that is in its 50th year.”

Charlie returns to Thayer for reunions every five years. In 1997 Thayer honored him with its Alumni Achievement Award, and the school also established the Charles Castleman Music Library within the school library. In 2008 he performed for the official opening of the Center for the Arts, an event that also included Thayer parent Steven Tyler P ’07, ’10, lead singer of the rock band Aerosmith. They did not perform together, but Charlie has played with many jazz and folk musicians—he says he was terrible at Irish fiddle music at a performance with The Chieftains in London—and he is a strong proponent of all the arts.

“I very much like what Thayer stands for, and opening the Center for the Arts is an example of that,” Charlie says. “In this world, things are mostly going the other direction: People are less interested in the arts, and orchestras are fighting to survive. But Thayer has expanded its arts programs and is constantly reinventing itself. That is worthy of our support. I want to help other students go there.”