Pietro Yon

Pietro Alessandro Yon (August 8, 1886 – November 22, 1943) was an Italian-born organist who made his career in the United States.

Yon was born in Settimo Vittone, (Piedmont, Italy), and studied at the conservatories of both Milan and Turin, also attending the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He served for a time as an organist at the Vatican and at the Royal Church in Rome before coming to the United States in 1907. He became an American citizen in 1921.[1] From 1907 until 1926 he was the organist of St. Francis Xavier Church; in 1926 he became the organist of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. He also toured the country giving recitals. Yon was also a composer, most famous for his Humoresque "L'organo primitivo"- Toccatina for Flute, for organ, and his Christmas piece Gesù bambino. He also wrote many works for organ, piano, and orchestra, including a Concerto Gregoriano for organ and a concerto for oboe.

Yon died in Huntington, New York in 1943. His pupils included Cole Porter, Georges-Émile Tanguay, Powell Weaver (Kansas City), Edgar Bowman (Pittsburgh), Robert Elmore (Philadelphia), Mary Downey (New York), Henry Seibert (New York), Eugene Phillips (Grand Rapids), Tracy Y. Cannon (Salt Lake City), Helen Knox Ferguson (Dallas), Helen Townsend (Buffalo), Franklin Coates (N.Y.City), Mrs. Dorothy Mulroney (Springfield, Mass.), Wilbur Chenowetch (Lincoln, Neb.), Allan Bucher (Peekskilt N. Y.), Edward Rivetti, assistant organist at St. Patrick's Cathedral, N. Y., and his godson Norman Dello Joio.